KOLKATA: With the BJP bagging only 12 Lok Sabha seats as against 29 by its principal rival Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, the BJP appeared to have limited options to project the state at the Central level, given the fact that it had to accommodate its allies in the Modi cabinet. Sukanta Majumdar (Balurghat) and Shantanu Thakur (Bangaon) are the party candidates who have found place in the cabinet.
Soon after the BJP failed to replicate its 2019 show in the state, losing ground to the Trinamool, the fissures in the state unit were again out in the open, with at least two prominent leaders criticising the state leadership in recent days.
The party’s Bishnupur MP Saumitra Khan — he defeated his ex-wife and TMC candidate Sujata Mondal by 5,567 votes, the lowest among all 42 seats in the state — fired the first shot. “Had it not been for the efforts of the RSS and the central BJP leadership, we would not have won the number of seats which we won. We would have drawn a blank. There are no experienced leaders in the party who have experienced electoral success in their careers. The leaders also lack organisational knowledge,” he said.
In such a situation, the BJP leadership’s decision to induct two ministers appears to pacify forces within the state party. Majumdar has been associated with the RSS since his teenage years. He was assigned to the Bengal BJP in 2014, marking his transition into active political involvement.