Bengal BJP’s plan to accommodate Trinamul Congress defectors has sparked off an internal feud with senior leaders and workers in the saffron camp raising objections to the possible inductions.
While BJP’s Asansol MP and Union minister Babul Supriyo and state general-secretary Sayantan Basu have publicly expressed their discontent regarding the possible induction of Trinamul MLA and former mayor of Asansol Municipal Corporation Jitendra Tiwari into the BJP, party workers in Bankura hit the streets on Friday to protest against the possibility of former state minister and Trinamul leader Shyamaprasad Mukherjee joining the saffron fold.
“Personally, I don’t want Jitendra Tiwari in our party. Babul has also voiced his objection,” Basu said on Friday.
“I’ve informed our central leaders that our workers in Asansol are against Tiwari’s induction as he had tormented them. Tiwari has also insulted Babul multiple times,” he added.
Later in the day, Tiwari admitted publicly that it was his mistake to leave Trinamul and he returned to the party.
Supriyo made a Facebook post on Thursday night saying that rumours were being spread that he had made an “under the table deal” to ensure Tiwari’s defection. He said the rumours were untrue and he wouldn’t be able to approve if Tiwari joined the BJP.
BJP leaders opposed to such random inductions have said that defectors from other parties should be accommodated only if they could win polls.
Mukherjee, who was Trinamul’s deputy chief for Bankura, resigned from the party on Thursday evening and declared that he would join the BJP.
Mukherjee had been questioned by multiple investigating agencies over his alleged involvement in the multi-crore Saradha scam and this prompted BJP supporters in Bankura to protest against his possible induction.
Questioned about the protests by BJP supporters against him, Mukherjee refused to comment. “I will join the BJP and work as the party instructs me to,” he said.
The feud over the possible inductions has once again revealed that the central leadership’s repeated effort to make the state BJP work as a single unit with an eye on the 2021 Assembly polls has not worked. The open opposition to the possible inductions shows that the new entrants were unlikely to receive a warm welcome from BJP old guards.
However, another set of BJP leaders is unwilling to pay heed to the opposition from the likes of Basu and Supriyo.
A senior BJP leader, who approved of accommodating defectors to the saffron camp, told this correspondent that the party’s ultimate goal was to wrest power in Bengal “by any means possible”.
“If the leaders who join us can win seats for the party, what is the problem? Moreover, with more such leaders defecting from Trinamul and joining us, a perception has been created that Mamata Banerjee’s party is crumbling like a house of cards. This will help consolidate people’s support in our favour,” the leader said.
Echoing the BJP leader, party MP Locket Chatterjee said from the kind of defections happening, it seemed the BJP would have to fight the 2021 polls without any opposition.
Several Trinamul defectors, including former minister Suvendu Adhikari, are expected to join the BJP at a public meeting in Midnapore in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday.
A political analyst pointed out that after coming to power, Trinamul had strengthened its position by inducting defectors from the Congress and the CPM.
“If you notice, this trend of horse-trading was started by Trinamul. Today as many leaders are quitting the party, Trinamul leaders are realising the futility of such a show of strength,” the analyst added.
