Calcutta: Bengal BJP leaders on Tuesday sniffed a "deep-rooted conspiracy" behind the tent collapse at Narendra Modi's rally in Midnapore, barely 24 hours after the state unit took sole responsibility.

BJP state general-secretary Sayantan Basu on Tuesday sought to shift the blame entirely to the local administration. "It was a deep-rooted conspiracy to sabotage the Prime Minister's programme."

On Monday, Basu and state party chief Dilip Ghosh were among the state leaders who had said the party, the rally's organisers, could not escape the blame.

"There were numerous calls from Delhi till the wee hours of Tuesday. Even Modiji called up at 1.26am to check on the injured.... Not just him, most of the national leadership is quite unhappy. We were forced to bring out the victim card," said a BJP state unit insider.

Although Basu shifted the blame to the Mamata Banerjee government, several BJP leaders said the attempt was "lame". "Basu and the others had no alternative. These conspiracy theories had to be floated as a face-saver," said a BJP source.

He pointed out that the state unit is already reeling from divisions, which came to the force in the spat between Ghosh and Asansol BJP MP Babul Supriyo at the rally on Monday.