KOLKATA: Three months have passed since the results of the Assembly elections were announced, but the BJP’s Bengal unit is yet to form a coordination committee.
Sources blamed an intra-party feud between factions led by the party’s state president Dilip Ghosh and the Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
According to the BJP rulebook, a coordination committee is mandatory in every state where the BJP is either in power or in the Opposition to facilitate communication between lawmakers and leaders of the state unit.
Sources said Ghosh and his loyalists don’t see eye to eye with members of the Suvendu faction.
“In our party’s structure, coordination committee is very important. We consider it as a bridge between two arms—the elected MLAs and party functionaries. This committee sorts out policy decisions, issues to be raised in the Assembly, grievances and problems. The party should know the issues on which the elected representatives would go public,’’ a BJP leader said.
Ghosh, in recent meetings with party leaders, said BJP legislators must consult the party before making any major public moves.
“Adhikari made several visits to Delhi after the elections. Each time, Ghosh said he was not aware of the visit. It appears that Ghosh’s comments in the meeting were directed against Adhikari,’’ he said.
Adhikari, once a trusted lieutenant of CM Mamata Banerjee left the Trinamool Congress months before the election.
Another party source said Adhikari’s rise in the saffron unit, after defeating West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Assembly election, has made Ghosh and his loyalists uneasy.
As a result, they have been maintaining a distance from the Adhikari faction.
This has led to the delay in the formation of the coordination committee.
“Adhikari’s meteoric rise in the party has not gone down well with Ghosh and his men. This seems to be a key reason behind the delay,’’ said the leader.