Fault Lines in Bengal BJP as Chandra Bose Roots for Election, Not Selection of State Party Chief

Kolkata: The Bengal unit of BJP seems to be developing cracks in its ranks after party leader Chandra Kumar Bose raised questions on the functioning of the state leadership and asked why the state president should not be an elected one instead of the current selection process.

Speaking to News18, Bose, who is the vice president of Bengal BJP, said, “The BJP talks about democracy and how it is gagged by the ruling TMC government in Bengal. Then why should it not follow the same practice and elect its party president. Our president Dilip Ghosh should answer this question. Charity begins at home.”

“BJP believes in inner party democracy unlike the Congress. Amit Shah Ji always has stated that in BJP, even an ordinary karyakarta can become the party president or Prime Minister. I have studied the BJP since 2007 when I went to Surat for a felicitation event organized by the party in memory freedom fighters. I was very impressed. But after I joined the BJP in January 2016, I was shocked with the Bengal BJP’s functioning,” he added.

“See, I was part of the corporate world. I worked with the Tata Group and I realized that the Bengal BJP was functioning like they say in corporate jargon — a non-profit organization. We may have many branches but they are not profitable. Bengal BJP is moving without a target and the result, so far, is below expectations. We have failed to make inroads into Bengal,” said Bose, who is also the grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Asked about BJP’s improved performance in some districts in the recent panchayat elections, Bose said, “It’s true, but BJP fared only in those areas where the ruling TMC failed to perform as per people’s expectations. If you have to win the polls, you need 45% vote share in Bengal. We have to gain that share based on our own merit and not on Mamata’s deficiency.”

In a tweet on Tuesday, Bose stated, “Crisis in the leadership issue in @BJP4Bengal can be solved by electing a party President & not selecting one! Let the ballot decide both in the districts & Kolkata who should take the leadership to take the party to victory. At present hopeless situation.”

Bose clarified that Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy also commented on this issue. Bose said, “He said that such issues should be discussed within the party and not in the open. I tried to bring up the matter with our president Dilip Ghosh several times, unfortunately I got no response.”

When contacted, Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh, said, “He is a non-political person and he should know what to say and where to say them. He should not raise such issues over the social media. BJP believes in democracy and he should discuss such matters with us internally. As far as electing a state BJP president is concerned, it will be decided by the central leadership and not me. We are certainly going to discuss this matter with Chandra Bose.”