Daggers drawn in Bengal BJP after poll debacle

Kolkata: Several Bengal BJP leaders have blamed the dismal performance of the party in the Lok Sabha polls in the state on “inexperienced leaders” ruling the roost and hinted at “conspiracy” behind the loss of seats where winning chances were high.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee swept the Lok Sabha polls in Bengal, winning 29 of the 42 seats in the state. The BJP’s tally, on the other hand, dropped to 12 from 18 in 2019. The outcome has raised questions regarding the party’s campaign strategy, organisational effectiveness, and narrative coherence.

“When those without any proper political experience of fighting elections call the shots in the organisation, this is the result that you get. There has to be some sort of accountability of the state leaders who decided everything in this election,” newly-elected BJP MP Saumitra Khan told reporters.

Former state BJP president Dilip Ghosh, who lost from the Bardhaman-Durgapur seat to TMC’s Kirti Azad by nearly 1.38 lakh votes, hinted at a “conspiracy” to ensure his defeat. “A conspiracy was hatched to ensure that I got defeated or why else would I be sent to Bardhaman-Durgapur. It seems the party had sent me to Bardhaman-Durgapur from Medinipur to ensure that I lost the elections,” he said.

Ghosh, while speaking to a Bengali news channel, said there has been no proper introspection in the party after the 2021 Assembly poll debacle.

“No one was held accountable for the loss in 2021.

If there is no course correction or introspection even now, this debacle will be repeated in 2026. In the last few years, the party did not have any growth in Bengal; rather its support base has eroded in the last five years,” he said.Ghosh, former MP from the Medinipur Constituency, was relocated to Bardhaman-Durgapur, a seat where the battle against TMC was perceptively tough, where he replaced outgoing MP

SS Ahluwalia.