BJP stares at crisis after Ballygunge & Asansol bypoll defeats

After Anupam Hazra pointed fingers at state unit top brass, senior party leaders call for introspection and a section in the party seek a course-correction meeting today

Anupam Hazra.:  File photo

Arkamoy Datta Majumdar   |   TT  |   Calcutta   |   19.04.22  :  The BJP’s defeats in the Ballygunge Assembly and Asansol Lok Sabha bypolls have triggered an organisational crisis that the party’s state leadership is desperately trying to brush under the carpet.

A national secretary of the party, Anupam Hazra, took a dig at state leaders through two social media posts on Sunday, highlighting the resignations of party leaders from the organisation posts and calling for introspection. On Monday, Hazra spoke to mediapersons in Delhi where he accused the state BJP of complacency and of there being no scope to voice concerns within the party.

“You will always have to praise them (BJP state leadership), otherwise you will not be allowed to speak,” Hazra told journalists. “There are some state leaders who are so complacent that they think there is no flaw in them. If you don’t discuss your flaws, how will you strengthen your organisation?”

Hazra went on to allege that party workers at the grassroots were denied the scope to voice their concerns. He added that if the party discouraged self-assessment, it would end in self-defeat.

“The state leadership has probably not communicated its flaws to the national leaders and hence no rectification has been done so far. First you need to acknowledge you are unwell, only then can the doctor prescribe medicines for you,” Hazra  added.

On Sunday, after 14 BJP leaders in Bengal resigned from their organisational posts in the party, Hazra shared the resignation letters of three state BJP office-bearers, including MLA Gouri Shankar Ghosh, on Facebook, and asked why several sections of the party were unhappy with state leaders. Hours later, Hazra came on a Facebook live interaction where he said if things go went on as they are, it would be difficult to work for the party in Bengal.

Though he didn't name anyone, sources close to him said Hazra was targeting the party's state general secretary (organisation) Amitava Chakraborty. Aggrieved BJP leaders and workers have held Chakraborty responsible for the defeats it has been facing since the 2021 Assembly polls.

BJP MP Saumitra Khan in two video messages on Saturday and Sunday did not name anyone but blamed “immature leadership” for the BJP’s crisis.

In Siliguri, BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh left a party WhatsApp group on Monday, prompting speculations within the party on the reason. Ghosh later claimed that the WhatsApp group was inactive.

“This group was created before the last Assembly polls. I keep leaving obsolete groups... There is nothing much to read into it," Ghosh told this paper.

However, some BJP leaders wondered why Ghosh was part of an “obsolete” WhatsApp group for almost a year and chose this hour of crisis to quit it. “Is it merely coincidence? Or is he sending a signal to state leaders?” asked a BJP state unit office-bearer.

In Hooghly, a list of the chiefs of the 30 BJP mandals — a mandal is the party's smallest organisational unit — was withdrawn after it was made public. Tushar Majumder, the chief of the Hooghly organisational district, had issued the list with his signature. Sources  said the district leadership withdrew the names because they felt it might trigger anger among party workers.

On Sunday night, ruckus broke out between BJP supporters inside the Asansol party office after some party workers questioned the process of distribution of funds during the April 12 bypoll.

The BJP has on Tuesday called a crisis management meeting at its Hastings office.

Asked, the party’s chief spokesperson in Bengal, Samik Bhattacharya, said the issues weren't as big as they were being projected to be.

“It is true that there is some discontent in a handful of our workers. The party will sit and discuss with them and all issues will be resolved,” he said, and added Chakraborty was being falsely maligned.