Dilip Ghosh: Leaders who evaded responsibilities now blaming party for poll debacle

kolkata: At a time when the vote bank of the BJP is eroding fast in state and the poll percentage has dropped from 38 per cent during the Assembly election in 2021 to 16 per cent during the civic election, BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh on Sunday said a section of party's leaders who had evaded responsibilities in the past were now shifting blame on the state leadership for the party's poor performance in the recently-held civic elections.

His remarks came amid claims by party MP Locket Chatterjee among other leaders that the state unit should introspect and find the reasons behind the poor show in the municipal polls and by-elections instead of just leveling vote rigging charges against the ruling TMC.

Ghosh, while talking to reporters, said, "It is easy to pass sweeping comments. "Those who did not work on the field during polls and evaded their responsibilities are making such critical comments, blaming the party... But what have they done for the organisation in the recent times?" He, however, refrained from taking names.Meanwhile, Locket Chatterjee speaking to a news channel said that if Ghosh had such issues, he should have spoken at the meet yesterday and not kept quite.

Without naming Chatterjee, Ghosh said: "Self analysis has always been the culture of BJP and after every election, it is being carried out and the loopholes are plugged. But what is going on in the name of self analysis is nothing but mere gossip."

Ghosh refused to comment when asked why Suvendu Adhikari did not attend the Chintan Shibir on Saturday at National Library. Veteran BJP leader Tathagata Roy, who has often been critical of the party's style of functioning in Bengal, recently tweeted that the state unit's "ostrich-like behaviour" has led to its downfall.

"After the debacle in assembly polls, the BJP did not take corrective steps and instead took pride in increasing its tally from 3 to 77 in the House. This ostrich-like behaviour has resulted in the near decimation of the party in municipal elections," he had claimed.