Kolkata: In a significant development, former BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, once the face of the party in Bengal who remained sidelined for a long time, is back into the spotlight as he has officially been invited to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally scheduled for July 18 in West Burdwan’s Durgapur.
At a time when his role in the party appeared to be shrinking, raising questions on his future within the party, inclusion of Ghosh’s name in the list of invitees has triggered speculations whether it will bring any shift in the BJP’s internal political dynamics. On May 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a public meeting in Alipurduar while on June 1, Amit Shah held a meeting of BJP party workers at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, where leaders from across the Bengal BJP cadre were present. However, Ghosh was not at any of the events. Asked by the media about his absence, Ghosh had said: “Right now, I do not have any rank within the party. Naturally, I was not invited… It is not mandatory or essential to invite me to every meeting.”
However, with the appointment of new state president Samik Bhattacharya, the internal narrative within the party seemed to be changing as he took a united leadership approach and emphasised on the importance of inclusivity. Upon taking charge, Bhattacharya had asserted that the party would function with the participation of “both old and new” members.
A long-time RSS worker, Ghosh was picked by the BJP leadership to head the Bengal unit in 2015. In the 2016 Assembly elections, the BJP showed some signs of growth and Ghosh won his first Assembly seat in Midnapore. Ghosh led the BJP and helped the party win 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Ghosh was replaced by MP Sukanta Majumder after the 2021 Assembly polls when the BJP won 77 out of 294 seats. After that, Ghosh has been receding from the limelight.
Sources in the BJP said that Ghosh may join Modi’s rally in Durgapur. It was also learnt that the Centre BJP leaders have raised questions as to why Ghosh was not seen in those rallies which PM Modi and Amit Shah had attended. The Central leaders of the party also stated that Ghosh should be there in all meetings which would be attended by the central leadership of the BJP.