Factionalism within the BJP came to the fore in Maynaguri, Jalpaiguri district, on Saturday when the party’s outgoing MLA Kaushik Roy filed his nomination as an Independent, moments before the party’s official candidate Dalim Roy submitted his papers at the district magistrate’s office in Jalpaiguri.

Kaushik Roy, whose name was initially announced as the BJP candidate, had his ticket withdrawn following protests by party workers. The party later fielded Dalim Roy in his place.

Despite this, Kaushik arrived at the nomination venue early in the day with a small group of supporters and filed his papers, claiming he was the BJP’s official candidate. He, however, declined to produce any documents to support the claim.

Shortly afterwards, Dalim submitted his nomination papers, accompanied by party workers.

“I have filed my nomination under the BJP’s official symbol,” Dalim said, displaying documents to substantiate his claim.

Union minister and BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar, who later joined a procession in the town, sought to put the controversy to rest. “The lotus is the hero. Whoever has the symbol is the party’s candidate,” he said, adding that Dalim was the BJP’s official nominee.

Earlier this week, Kaushik began his campaign after offering prayers at the Jalpesh temple. However, allegations by party workers that he had failed to maintain public contact during his tenure as MLA led to protests at the Maynaguri BJP office, where district president Shyamal Roy was briefly confined, prompting the party to replace his candidature.

Dalim recently joined the BJP from the Trinamool Congress.