In Bengal, the question BJP leaders are asking is, ‘After Mukul, who?’

Trinamul turncoats in the saffron camp are anxious as no one is sure how ‘Mo-Shah’ will respond to the developments in Calcutta

Many former Trinamul leaders who had joined the BJP appeared to be treading cautiously while trying to send out signals.: Getty Images

Arnab Ganguly   |  TT  |  Calcutta   |  11.06.21: Mukul Roy’s exit from the BJP on Friday afternoon has triggered a churning within the party in Bengal, especially among a section of leaders who were perceived to be close to him.

Now, the question on most BJP leaders’ minds is after Mukul, who? Who else from the Trinamul camp will leave BJP?

The disarray within the Bengal BJP was evident on Friday when at least four public representatives in North 24-Parganas district skipped a meeting called by the party’s Bengal president Dilip Ghosh.

Ghosh refused to comment on Roy’s exit from the party, which is being seen as another victory for Mamata Banerjee over the BJP. “What can I do? Many of our workers are under attack in the districts. Our priority is to ensure they can return home. I don’t have the time to think about who is joining and who is quitting,” he said.

Many former Trinamul leaders who had joined the BJP appeared to be treading cautiously while trying to send out signals. One of the reasons behind the sudden noises _ critical and conciliatory  _ from Trinamul turncoats in the saffron camp is that no one is sure how the BJP’s national leadership _ Narendra Modi and Amit Shah _ will respond to the developments in Calcutta.

BJP MP from Bishnupur Saumitra Khan did not name Roy but called him “Mir Jafar”.

“It is because of Bengal’s Mir Jafars that BJP is in such a state. The sooner they leave the better. We were foot soldiers of the BJP and we will remain so. No traitor can break our spirit to fight,” Khan tweeted.

বাংলার মীরজাফরের জন্য আজকে বিজেপির এই অবস্থা। ওঁরা যত তাড়াতাড়ি চলে যায়, তত ভালো। আমরা বিজেপির সৈনিক হয়ে ছিলাম, আছি আর থাকব। কোনও বেইমান-গদ্দার আমাদের লড়াই করার মানসিকতা ভেঙে দিতে পারবে না। @MukulR_Official @BJP4Bengal @ani_digital @abpanandatv @Zee24Ghanta @News18Bengali

— Saumitra khan (@KhanSaumitra) June 11, 2021

Incidentally, Khan’s entry into Parliamentary politics was by holding the hands of Roy in February 2014 when he defected from the Congress to Trinamul ahead of Rajya Sabha elections. After Roy switched to the BJP, Khan too had joined him.

Apart from Khan, Arjun Singh, Nisith Pramanik, Anupam Hazra, Sabyasachi Dutta, Wilson Champramary, Sunil Singh, Biswajit Das and Mihir Goswami joined the BJP on Roy’s insistence.  

Another TMC turncoat in the BJP, Vaishali Dalmia, has asked BJP’s new-found poster boy in Bengal Suvendu Adhikari to get rid of the “garbage” in the party.

Dutta, the former Bidhannagar mayor, has been critical of the BJP’s state leadership. At a meeting earlier this week, Dutta was vocal about his opposition to bringing leaders from outside Bengal to campaign and the party's failure to project a Bengali face against Mamata Banerjee.

 “I am sticking to what I have said,” Dutta said. Both within the Trinamul and the BJP, Dutta is known for his proximity to Roy.

Another pro-Roy leader, Anupam Hazra, who has been sulking since he lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Jadavpur contesting on a BJP ticket, has asked the BJP leadership to stop “lobbying” and involve leaders according to their skills and qualities.

“Showering excessive attention to one or two leaders during the polls and sidelining other qualified leaders should be stopped… I had joined the BJP when it was under duress and I will stay here,” Hazra said in a social media post in an attempt to stall, for now, any pre-emptive strike by the BJP leadership.

আশা রাখছি এবার বঙ্গ বিজেপির আগামী দিনের মিটিং গুলোতে proper protocol মেনে invitation পাবো !!! pic.twitter.com/UXjXs2AqIl

— Anupam Hazra (Dr. Anupam Hazra) (@tweetanupam) June 11, 2021

Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee has already made it clear that those who had betrayed the party before the elections and spread canards against it were not welcome. She was hinting at Suvendu Adhikari and his father, Sisir.

Several others who had quit Trinamul before the elections, like Sonali Guha and Dipendu Biswas, have already appealed to Mamata to take them back, while others like Rajib Banerjee have started speaking out against the BJP leadership.