Bengal Polls 2021: BJP asked to read Nandigram pulse on CM

While some like Ghosh blamed her for 'creating drama for sympathy', others like Adhikari — the BJP candidate from Nandigram against Mamata — stayed silent

Mamata Banerjee: File picture

Arkamoy Datta Majumdar   |   TT   |   Calcutta   |   14.03.21 : The top BJP leadership on Saturday asked their party’s Bengal leaders to gauge the pulse of the people in Nandigram in the wake of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s injury, insiders have said.

The meeting was held in Delhi at the official residence of BJP national president J.P. Nadda and attended by Union home minister Amit Shah.

Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, present at the meeting, said: “The leaders asked us about the incident. They wanted to know what were the repercussions of the chief minister’s injury in Nandigram.”

“They have seen the video footage of the (Nandigram) incident and asked us about what people are saying about it,” Ghosh said.

Ghosh and other BJP leaders like Rahul Sinha, Shivprakash, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Amitava Chakraborty, Mukul Roy, Suvendu Adhikari and Rajib Banerjee met Nadda and Shah on Saturday to discuss candidates for the second and third phases of polls in Bengal. According to a source at the meeting, Nadda had brought up the issue of Mamata’s injury.

Mamata hurt her left leg, chest and head in Nandigram during an outreach on March 10, and rushed to SSKM hospital in Calcutta.

The BJP has so far been in two minds about how to react to the incident.

While some like Ghosh blamed Mamata for “creating drama for sympathy”, others like Trinamul turncoat Adhikari — the BJP candidate from Nandigram against Mamata — stayed silent.

A BJP old-timer said that no matter the changed equations between Adhikari and the CM, “she holds a special place in the hearts of people in Nandigram”.