KOLKATA: West Bengal’s Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari landed in New Delhi on Tuesday to hold meetings with BJP national president JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah amid fears of party imploding in the state.
Sources said Adhikari was summoned to Delhi to meet Shah and Nadda and mull ways on keeping the flock together in the wake of the crushing defeat in Bengal election.
Cracks are developing in the BJP’s West Bengal unit, with at least five prominent TMC imports to BJP snapping communication lines with the leadership as a precursor to quitting.
On a day Adhikari reached Delhi, more news of widening rift reached the leadership. BJP’s national vice president Mukul Roy skipped an organisational meeting convened by party’s state unit chief Dilip Ghosh. Former TMC minister Rajib Banerjee was among the notable faces missing in the meeting.
While Roy claimed one had informed him about Tuesday’s organisational meeting, Banerjee said he could not attend the meeting as one of his relatives fell sick. Later, in a social media post, Banerjee, without naming Adhikari, said repeated demands of imposing Article 356 in West Bengal would not go down well in Bengal.
Responding to Adhikari’s Delhi visit, the state president said he was not aware of his schedule.
“The statements given by Ghosh on the issue of Adhikari’s Delhi visit and Roy’s comment on the organisational meeting reflect clear division. Though the rift between Ghosh and Roy emerged before the Assembly election, it was brushed under the carpet. However, after its defeat, it has spilled over to public domain,” a senior BJP leader in Kolkata said.
The leader said the BJP’s national leadership is not happy with the post-poll developments in Bengal.
“Five former TMC MLAs have already quit and five are likely to leave. Also, Adhikari was recently booked in a criminal case. These issues might be discussed,” he said.