West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya has asserted that the party is in no hurry to induct leaders from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), claiming that several sitting TMC MPs and MLAs are keen to join the BJP following its victory in the state but that the party has currently shut its doors to such entrants.
In an interview with news agency PTI, Bhattacharya said the BJP, having secured a decisive mandate on its own, was under no compulsion to accommodate leaders from rival parties and had learned lessons from the large-scale defections that preceded the 2021 Assembly elections.
Without naming any leader or disclosing figures, he said, “Several TMC MPs and MLAs are willing to join us, but I don't want to comment on figures.”
He maintained that the BJP no longer required political imports to strengthen its position in the state. “Right now, the door is closed. We don't need any TMC leader to win elections anymore. We have won on our own,” the state BJP chief said.
However, Bhattacharya left open the possibility of future inductions under certain conditions.
“In politics, two plus two is not always four; we won’t open our door for any tainted leader…this decision would be a collective decision and not of an individual,” he said.
He added that even if the BJP considers new entrants in the future, leaders facing allegations of corruption, involvement in recruitment scams, or links with the TMC’s alleged syndicate network would not be welcomed.
Rejecting suggestions that he had ever differentiated between sections of the ruling party, Bhattacharya said, “I have never said there is a good TMC or a bad TMC. TMC and corruption have become synonymous.”
At the same time, he said there were individuals associated with the TMC who had remained outside what he described as a corrupt ecosystem and had supported the BJP in the election.
“There are people who were part of the TMC but stayed outside that corrupt ecosystem. Many of them voted for us,” he said.
According to Bhattacharya, any future decision on allowing such individuals into the BJP would be taken collectively by the party leadership.
Reflecting on the BJP’s strategy ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections, he acknowledged that the party had drawn lessons from inducting a large number of former TMC leaders.
“We had shown excessive interest in TMC leaders in 2021, and that proved to be our undoing. We have learnt from that mistake... and we will keep that in mind for the future,” he said.
Bhattacharya also commented on the political role of Muslims in the state, arguing that the BJP’s electoral success had changed the political landscape.
“This perception among Muslims that they are a minority has to go. The BJP has demonstrated that it can come to power with a two-thirds majority without fielding a single Muslim candidate and without depending on minority votes,” he said.
“The state BJP chief said, “We want Muslims to behave not as minorities but as citizens of West Bengal and India.”
He also warned against religious radicalisation.
“The days of Dar-ul-Islam and Dar-ul-Harb politics are over. Radicalisation is dangerous for Hindus, for the country and for Muslims as well,” he said.
Bhattacharya maintained that the government’s welfare and development agenda would apply equally to all communities.
Despite the BJP’s emphatic mandate, he said the party would not interfere in the functioning of the government.
“For the BJP, today's religion is democracy and today's politics is development. This is the Government of West Bengal, not a BJP government. It is run by the chief minister and his council of ministers. The party's role is to ensure that promises made to the people are fulfilled,” he said.
“The BJP will act as a watchdog. We will extend all support whenever required, but there will be no interference in day-to-day administration. We want to bring that change to West Bengal,” he added.
Bhattacharya, one of the principal architects of the BJP’s electoral victory, admitted that the scale of the mandate was still sinking in and said the party now faced a different challenge.
“The biggest challenge before us is to weed out those four-hour BJP workers who picked up BJP flags after noon on May 4, the day of the assembly election results,” he said.
He also sought to distinguish between political change and political revenge, arguing that the BJP had exercised restraint despite years of political violence.
“Since 2016, 329 BJP workers have lost their lives due to political violence. Yet we have protected several former TMC ministers and leaders from possible attacks and public anger. That is one of our biggest achievements.
“Many party workers criticised me on social media for saying this. But I continue to stand by it because we are not the TMC. We are a party with a difference,” Bhattachrya added.
(With inputs from PTI)
