Factionalism within the BJP and the Trinamool Congress were witnessed in some pockets of north Bengal on Monday and Tuesday, following the publication of the list of candidates for the Assembly elections.
On Monday, as the BJP announced the name of Paritosh Das as the candidate in the Alipurduar seat, a group of party workers got agitated barged into the district office of the party in the town. They ransacked the chairs stacked there along some other furniture, and tore the curtains, protesting Das’s candidature.
They also confined Mithu Das, the BJP district president, till 11pm.
On Tuesday, they wore black badges and demonstrated in front of the same office, trying to exert pressure on the party leadership to change the candidate.
In South Dinajpur, a section of BJP leaders and workers became vocal on social media as the party decided to replace Ashok Lahiri, a noted economist and sitting MLA, with Bidyut Kumar Roy in the Balurghat seat.
Roy, a lawyer based in the city with “leftist leanings”, joined the BJP on Sunday. He got the ticket for Balurghat the next day.
Several BJP booth presidents, workers and supporters from Balurghat said on their social media handles that they would quit from their posts and even walk out of the party if Roy remained the candidate.
Roy, however, said that the dissent would soon subside. “I will hold discussions with those who are unhappy. I hope their grievances are resolved quickly and they join the campaign,” he said.
In Karandighi of neighbouring North Dinajpur, some BJP leaders protested against the candidature of Biraj Biswas, a youth leader associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad from Dalkhola, for the Karandighi seat, saying “better candidates” were available. On Tuesday, they staged protests in front of the party office in Karandighi, demanding an immediate change of candidate.
In Jalpaiguri, a drama unfolded on Tuesday afternoon as Khageswar Roy, a four-time MLA of Trinamool from Rajganj Assembly constituency and the party’s chairman in the district, resigned from his post in protest of the party’s decision to field heptathlete Swapna Barman from Raiganj.
“When there was no presence of Trinamool in Rajganj, a few workers and I built the party here. I was beaten up during the Left regime and went on to win four elections. I never imagined the party would treat me like this. I have lost to money and power. I no longer see the need to continue as district chairman,” he said.
After he stepped down, some other leaders of the block, including Rajganj block Trinamool president Arindam Banerjee, followed suit.
Mahua Gope, the district Trinamool president, was brief in her reaction.
“Khageswar Roy is a four-time MLA and a senior leader. It is natural for him to feel hurt. I have tried to convince him (not to quit). The party may consider giving him a respectable position,” she said.
In Maruganj under the Natabari Assembly seat of Cooch Behar, some Trinamool supporters ransacked a local party office to protest against the party’s decision to field retired schoolteacher Sailen Barma.