Governor C.V. Ananda Bose’s report to the Union home ministry pushed the Bengal BJP on the defensive on Sunday, forcing its leadership to clarify it did not want President’s rule clamped on the state.

The report also spotlighted the rift in the state unit. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, whose hard-line faction has been persistently demanding that next year’s Assembly polls be held under President’s rule, said he “welcomed” Bose’s report.

The governor’s report, which mentions Article 356 as an option without appearing to directly recommend it, united the Trinamool Congress, CPM and the Congress against the BJP’s alleged attempts to sabotage non-NDA state governments.

Samik Bhattacharya, the state BJP’s chief spokesperson and a Rajya Sabha member, repeatedly asserted that his party was in principle opposed to the backdoor dismissal of a democratically elected state government.

“While thankful that he (Bose) took note of the law-and-order situation and ground realities in the state after a long time, we are not terribly concerned about what the governor has recommended,” Bhattacharya, considered one of the saner voices in the state BJP, said.

“We do believe that the constitutional machinery in Bengal has collapsed. But the BJP does not endorse the governor’s (perceived) recommendation. We are in principle opposed to the dismissal of an elected government by the use of Article 356.”

The BJP believes that the Trinamool government will be ousted democratically by a popular mandate next year, Bhattacharya said.

“What the governor has placed in his report can certainly be examined by constitutional authorities…. People should rise above all prejudice and unite against this culture of violence...,” Bhattacharya added.

Multiple sources in the state BJP conceded that the use of Article 356 could generate a sympathy wave for chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

“This strategy may have worked in the Hindi belt but can backfire in Bengal, a state whose sub-nationalist and pluralist ethos remains a challenge for us,” a source said.

“Playing with Article 356 — simply because a loose cannon like Suvendu has been clamouring for it — could spell electoral ruin for us here. Thankfully, the national leadership knows it.”

The purported contents of the governor’s report were circulated widely on Sunday, a day before Mamata is scheduled to make her first trip to Murshidabad since the April unrest.

The TMC said Bose’s reference to Article 356 was “politically motivated” and that people would give a fitting reply toany conspiracy. “He submitted it (the report) as part of his political assignment. He knows well that the situation is under control and therefore those words are not applicable,” TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said.

The CPM ruled out any support for Bose’s perceived recommendation for President’s rule and questioned the Centre’s “failures” in the context of Pahalgam, instead.

“There is no doubt that the state government has completely failed in handling the unrest in Murshidabad. The TMC-led government is pushing the RSS agenda of creating divisions between communities,” said Samik Lahiri, editor of the party’s mouthpiece Ganashakti. “The Centre should first correct its failures — such as those in the (Kashmir) valley — before attempting to correct others. No, we absolutely do not support such a recommendation.”

The state Congress in a statement dubbed Bose’s mention of Article 356 as “deeply alarming”. “Such a move is not only constitutionally unwarranted but also politically motivated, violating the basic tenets of cooperative federalism enshrined in the Constitution,” the statement said.