KOLKATA: The BJP’s poor show in the by-elections seems to have left an impact on the party’s state-level and lower tier of organisational structure. Reflecting this is the fact that in the past 24 hours, 14 district-level functionaries have tendered their resignations. The unhappy functionaries alleged that "incompetent leaders" are getting priority while the party’s loyal faces are being ignored or sidelined.
After two MLAs stepped down from the state-level hierarchy one day ago, another state committee member, Bani Gangopadhyay from Murshidabad district, tendered his resignation on Monday.
The BJP’s Bengal unit started feeling the impact of discontent on Sunday, a day after the by-elections results were declared, as two of the BJP MLAs from Murshidabad stepped down from the state-level hierarchy blaming "incompetent leaders."
While Gourishankar Ghosh, MLA from Murshidabad, resigned from the post of the state secretary, Subrata Moitra, a legislator elected from Behrampore, stepped down from the state committee.
The discontent is most felt in the Nadia district unit severely as the party’s 10 district level functionaries announced their decision of stepping down from the district hierarchy. They wrote to BJP’s state president Sukanta Majumdar expressing their inability to continue as the office bearers of the party. They accused a section of the district leadership of favouritism.
‘’None of these leaders informed me about their decision. Had they been unhappy with the style of leadership’s functioning, they could have discussed the issue in the district committee,’’ said district president Arjun Biswas.
Nadia is the district from where the saffron camp bagged one seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The district has a considerable chunk of electorates belonging to the Matua community, a Hindu religious sect comprising refugees from Bangladesh, which had extended support to the saffron camp after being promised citizenship by implementing the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
BJP’s Anupam Hazra, who had contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Jadavpur in Kolkata, said the resignation of so many functionaries indicate there was prominent discontent within the party over the issue of the state and district leadership’s style of functioning.
BJP’s principal rival Bengal’s ruling party the Trinamool Congress’s spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, ‘’Bloodbath in the BJP has begun which will keep continuing. The BJP functionaries have realised that the political force has no credibility and acceptance in the electorates of Bengal,’’ he said.