Mukul Roy set for Delhi ‘power trip’ - The Trinamul turncoat is said to have got BJP national president J.P. Nadda’s appointment and is believed to be trying hard to meet home minister Amit Shah

Arkamoy Datta Majumdar   |   TT   |   Calcutta   |   31.07.20  :  The central leadership of the BJP has asked Trinamul turncoat Mukul Roy to be in Delhi for meetings lined up next week.

Roy is said to have got BJP national president J.P. Nadda’s appointment and is believed to be trying hard to meet home minister Amit Shah.

Roy, once No. 2 in Trinamul, joined the BJP in 2017, but hasn’t got a significant position in the party that now appears to be the main challenger to the ruling Trinamul in the 2021 Assembly polls.

“Central leaders know that Mukul da is sulking and there is a buzz that his concerns will be addressed,” said a source, adding speculation over what “he would get” was deepening fissures in the state BJP.

The two main factions in Bengal BJP are reportedly headed by Roy and state party president Dilip Ghosh.

Inducted into the party from the RSS in 2015, Ghosh’s apparent foot-in-the-mouth disease and refusal to give space to people who have joined the BJP from other parties have not gone down well with many state and central leaders. 

Insiders are keenly watching developments. “If Mukul da’s position stays the same, his lobby will keep sulking. If he gets a position of respect in the party, that will upset Dilip da’s lobby,” a BJP leader said.

Earlier this week, some of the “shortcomings” of Ghosh — and that of his trusted aide Subrata Chatterjee, party’s general secretary (organisation) — came up during an assessment of the BJP’s position in Bengal in front of central leaders in Delhi when party MP Arjun Singh spelt out his grievances.

Since then, developments in Delhi include a luncheon hosted at Union minister of state Babul Supriyo’s home where invitees included MPs Arjun Singh, Swapan Dasgupta, Saumitra Khan, Jagannath Sarkar and Nishith Pramanik, all believed to be anti Ghosh. Dasgupta, on his part, has been trying to impress upon senior party leaders the need to offer Roy a position so that he can play a more effective role in the Bengal BJP. 

Against this backdrop, central leaders are preparing for a second round of meetings to discuss the party’s poll strategy in Calcutta in August. “The session in Delhi was lost in addressing complaints by one group against another… we need another session… best to host it in Calcutta so that more leaders can take part,” said a source.