Picnics new way of expressing dissent among BJP leaders in West Bengal

Kolkata: It has been a month of dissent for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal. The rumblings within the party’s state unit - which started after names of 11 new vice-presidents, five general secretaries, 12 state secretaries, 42 organisational district unit presidents, the presidents of several morchas or fronts and heads of several cells were announced on December 22 last year - is spreading like wildfire.

It seems as if a spark has been buried under the ash, waiting for a kindle. And it was ignited by Union Minister of State for Shipping Shantanu Thakur, who was duly backed by several party MLAs and leaders of myriad hues. All hell broke loose when Shantanu went public with his allegations and clandestinely blaming state unit general secretary (organisation) Amitava Chakraborty on January 15.

The grumblings have now spread across the districts of Nadia, Purulia, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur as well as Birbhum. Party insiders feel that it is only time before the heat reaches North Bengal.

In Purulia, considered only of the strongholds of the saffron party in Bengal where BJP won all three Lok Sabha seats and six out of nine Assembly seats in last year’s elections, there is discontent over appointment of Vivek Ranga as the new district unit president. Five MLAs, including Narahari Mahato, Sudip Mukherjee and Kamala Kanta Hansda have written to the party’s central leadership expressing displeasure over Vivek’s appointment.

In the neighbouring district of Bankura where BJP won both Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 general elections and seven out of the 12 Assembly seats in the 2021 polls, four party MLAs Nirmal Dhara, Niladri Sekhar Dana, Amarnath Shakha and Dibakar Gharami, have written to the party top brass in Delhi seeking immediate removal of Sonamukhi organisational district unit president Bileshwar Singha and Bankura unit organisational president Sunil Rudra Mondal. Both Bileshwar and Sunil were appointed in the recent organisation rejig.

MLAs Amarnath Shakha and Nirmal Dhara have also written to the Union Home Ministry requesting removal of their central security cover. The districts of Bankura and Purulia are those strongholds of the BJP where the party did relatively well in the 2015 Panchayat elections, 2019 general elections and the 2021 Assembly polls. Dissidence in these two districts, party insiders say, will hit hard.

“It is only time that these rumblings escalate towards the north. And once it hits North Bengal, which has acted as a cradle for the party for some time now and from where the party reaped dividends, it will be extremely tough to bring the situation under control and also to keep the flock together,” said a party leader on condition of anonymity.

In the south Bengal districts of Birbhum and Paschim Medinipur, the trouble has hit the underbelly of BJP. Sheikh Shamad, the party’s Birbhum minority cell leader, has resigned. A Yuva Morcha youth leader in Paschim Medinipur has resigned and joined the Trinamool Congress last week with several Morcha members.

Problems have also cropped up in the Baruipur area of South 24 Parganas district where many grassroots level BJP workers are gradually switching sides with the ruling Trinamool Congress.

That the voices of discontent had some credence was reflected in the fact that Bengal BJP unit president Sukanta Majumdar had dissolved all cells and departments on January 13, which he himself had announced barely two weeks ago. But, the move has hardly changed anything within the party. The rumblings continue.

Picnics taste bitter for BJP in Bengal

In a desperate attempt to bring its house together, the BJP state leadership has now chosen to crack the whip on dissidence. On Sunday, the party issued show-cause notices to two of its leaders, Jayprakash Majumdar and Ritesh Tiwari, both former state vice-presidents, for going public with their dissents. Tightening the noose, the BJP leadership expelled both of them on Monday. But, no action has been initiated so far against Shantanu Thakur or any other party legislator for attending the picnic organised by dissident leaders on Sunday.

The issue of show-cause notice has in fact, resulted in a counter effect. An even more desperate Shantanu Thakur has now said he will resort to his picnic politics.

“Let them (state BJP leadership) issue show-cause notices. Let them do whatever they want. Many leaders will meet me in the coming days. I will meet all BJP leaders from across West Bengal who are voicing dissidence. Will they throw all of them out? Can they do that? Many leaders and party workers have simply become inactive after being attacked by the ruling party. Several others are feeling insecure. I will be organising a communication-march to boost their morale. There will be picnics across West Bengal in the coming days,” a defiant Shantanu said on Sunday, after attending yet another picnic with party workers at the house of Ashis Bandopadhyay, the BJP civic unit president of Goipur area in Gobardanga in North 24 Parganas district.

Party insiders have pointed out that both Ritesh and Jayprakash and some other leaders were scheduled to attend a similar picnic organised by another dissident leader Manoj Mahato, in Purulia. “The hastily served show-cause notices to both Tiwari and Majumdar is an attempt to stop them from reaching Purulia,” according to them.

The record books show that BJP had won 77 seats in the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections and had emerged as the opposition party in the state legislature. But, since the elections, five of its MLAs have joined the Trinamool Congress, though none of them have resigned from the party.

Trinamool Congress has also wrested the Santipur and Dinhata Assembly seats from BJP in subsequent bypolls, further bringing down the numbers. For the saffron party, the dissidents’ picnics could bring in more bitter taste.