LS polls: BJP’s internal rift in Tamluk ‘puts Abhijit Ganguly in a tight spot’

Kolkata: An internal fight within the BJP in several pockets under the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency might have given anxious hours to the retired Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Ganguly who is contesting the poll on BJP’s ticket and pitted against Trinamool Congress’ youth leader Debangshu Bhattacharya.

The fight between the old BJP and new BJP leaders has gone to such an extent that old ones had distributed leaflets in several parts of Nandigram recently accusing some new leaders of extorting money. Leaflets were seen in Bhimbazar, Reapara, Khodambari and several other areas under Nandigram Block II recently where the old BJP leaders alleged that some BJP leaders of a local panchayat had taken bribes for giving permission to illegal activities. A strong resentment has been brewing among the old BJP leaders after a large number of local Trinamool Congress activists shifted their allegiance to the BJP with the joining of Suvendu Adhikari to the BJP. Many old BJP leaders, including a former Mandal Sabhapati of Nandigram, skipped Ganguly’s election rally in Haldia last Friday.

Incidentally, Ganguly was again caught in controversy after he, from an election rally in Tamluk last Sunday, allegedly termed Trinamool Congress as ‘thief’, ‘beast’. Trinamool Congress’ candidate from Tamluk Bhattacharya slammed the former judge for his comment saying that it was not expected that a retired judge could speak such a language.

Ganguly had earlier made a controversial remark after he was heard in a video saying that “It appears as if the death knell of Mamata Banerjee has rung”. Trinamool had alleged that Ganguly had wished for Mamata Banerjee’s death. “BJP Stoops to Another Low; Abhijit Ganguly in One of The Interviews ‘WISHES FOR DEATH OF SMT. MAMATA BANERJEE’. This is Modi’s Reality of Nari Samman, This Is Modi’s Guarantee - Attack Women,” Trinamool earlier said in its post on X.

Ganguly, who was nominated as the BJP candidate shortly after stepping down as a Calcutta HC judge, had also sparked controversy when he stated in a recent interview with a Bengali channel that he cannot ‘pick between Gandhi and Godse’. In the 2019 General Assembly Elections, Tamluk witnessed a fiercely contested battle. This constituency witnessed 85.32 per cent voter turnout in the year 2019. TMC candidate Dibyendu Adhikari won the 2019 General Election with a victory margin of 1,90,165 votes, securing 7,24,433 votes.

Dibyendu defeated Sidharthasankar Naskar of BJP, who got 5,34,268 votes.