Kolkata: With the rise of Mukul Roy in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), from national executive member to vice president, party members say he will play an important role in selecting candidates for next year’s assembly elections in Bengal Western.
Given Mukul’s deep roots in the ruling field, as he was a founding member of the Trinamool Congress, BJP wants to use his long association with Mamata Banerjee because sources say that no one knows better than he does about the TMC’s trade-offs and advantages at the level of booth. in Bengal.
The list of newly appointed officials approved by BJP President JP Nadda on September 26 shows the party’s eagerness to win the Bengal elections at any cost, even if it means keeping traitors at the front to lead the battle. .
The organizational restructuring of the BJP central unit sparked discontent as leaders such as Rahul Sinha, who was removed as national secretary to make way for another TMC renegade, Anupam Hazra, expressed dissatisfaction with Nadda’s decision.
Sinha, in a video message (in both Hindi and Bengali), said: “For 40 years I have served the BJP as a soldier. I have to step aside because a leader of the Trinamool Congress is coming. There can be nothing more unfortunate. that this”. reward for serving the BJP from the beginning. I don’t want to comment much on this matter. I don’t want to judge (if it’s right or wrong). In the next 10-12 days, I will decide my future Course of Action. “
For several months, Mukul Roy had a difficult time in the BJP state unit due to differences with the old guard, including Rahul Sinha and Dilip Ghosh.
But the list of the newly appointed officials clearly shows that the party’s central leadership can go anywhere, even if it needs to sideline the veterans, when it comes to defeating Mamata.
Roy, who had called himself “the Garry Sobers of Indian politics”, had once told News18: “Today, once again, I say that as long as there is cricket in this world, people will always remember Garry Sobers. Similarly, jab tak policy rahega, humko koi ignores nahi kar sakega (as long as there is politics, no one can ignore me). “
On the same day, while commenting on Roy, BJP State President Dilip Ghosh had said: “There is no difference. I am no one to give Mukul Roy a certificate. He told me that he is in the BJP and will remain in the BJP. All I want to say is that I am an advanced player. “
Roy’s and Ghosh’s remarks came in August amid back-to-back meetings in the party, including one between BJP chair JP Nadda and the head of the Bengal unit in Delhi, and Kailash Vijayvargiya (BJP in charge of West Bengal) with Roy. on the salty lake of Calcutta.
Such was the urgency that Vijayvargiya flew to Kolkata to meet Roy (the national executive member who was put in charge of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019) in anticipation of the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, while Ghosh was to Delhi to meet Nadda. .
Now crowned with a crucial position in the party, the challenges for Roy will be greater as he must maintain a balance to avoid any breakdown in state leadership while working on strategies to defeat TMC in 2021.
When contacted on the matter, TMC MP Saugata Roy said: “Who to raise is an internal BJP matter, but all I can say is that the gap in BJP state leadership was there for a long time and now it came to light. There is no question about the internal BJP breakout. The party is weakening in Bengal due to the rejection of the people. Because of this discontent, many lower-ranking BJP workers are joining TMC now because they believe in Mamata Banerjee. “
Political experts believe that Rahul Sinha’s open discontent is likely to be followed by others close to him and this will certainly be a big problem for Mukul and other actors who joined the BJP from TMC.
Speaking to News18, political experts, Kapil Thakur, said: “The central BJP leadership has realized that except for a few state leaders (as most of them failed to create any impact on Bengal politics), it will be difficult for them to fight the ruling TMC. . Of the 18 Lok Sabha seats, three leaders who won were with the TMC.
However, Anupam Hazra lost that election and despite that, Rahul Sinha was replaced by the former TMC leader. The rest won thanks to the anti-TMC vote. The poll results were a revelation for the central leaders of the BJP, as they lost all three seats in Bengal. Despite their remarkable performance in the last Lok Sabha, they lost three seats in a row in the elections. This includes Dilip Ghosh’s own constituency. “
On Roy’s elevation, he said: “Until his presence in the state BJP, he will continually face problems with the old guard. This is not going to end here. He now has two challenges: one to fight Mamata and the other to deal with the leaders of his own party. You can already see how BJP leaders at the district level are venting their anger by giving more importance to TMC workers who joined the BJP. Recently, some important leaders of the Kharagpur BJP have joined the TMC. It will not be an easy task for Mukul to lead the team to victory. I think it is the last nail in the coffin of Mukul’s political career. “
CPI (M) leader Amiya Patra called Roy a “seasonal bird” and “highly opportunistic” with no ideology. “I don’t want to comment on a person (Mukul Roy) who has no ideology. They can sell themselves to get the ‘chair’. But I must say that Rahul Sinha is not like him. His background is not like Mukul Roy. But the reason why the one that was marginalized is purely an internal matter of the BJP and I could not say anything about it.
On September 25, 2017, in a major setback for TMC, Roy resigned from the party’s working committee.
At a press conference at the Nizam Palace in Calcutta, he announced his resignation as a leading party member and as a member of Rajya Sabha.
Roy’s move came days after Mamata Banerjee at a central committee meeting warned party leaders against rubbing shoulders with BJP people in Delhi. She had said that those who wanted to join other parties were free to leave, but anti-party activities would not be tolerated.
On August 30, 2017, Roy was removed from the post of chairman of the standing committee for transport, tourism and culture in Rajya Sabha for his alleged proximity to the BJP leaders in Delhi.
Since Roy was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding the Saradha Ponzi scheme in 2015, his relationship with Mamata had turned sour as he had reportedly secured full cooperation with the investigative agency. .
When the TMC was formed in 1997, Roy was one of the first leaders to join the party. He was a non-executive director of the United Bank of India (UBI) from 2002 to 2005. In April 2006, he became a member of the Rajya Sabha of West Bengal and was later appointed to the urban development committee in August 2006 That same year , became a member of the advisory committee of the Ministry of the Interior.
For Mamata, he was the most reliable party worker and had actively worked for her in the protest against the land acquisition by the then government of the Bengal Left Front in Singur and Nandigram. In April 2008, Mamata appointed him the party’s secretary general for all of India and the following year he became minister of state in the Ministry of Maritime Transport.
Roy is currently with the BJP and with his rise in the party as vice president, he credited his claim to be the “Garry Sobers of Indian politics”.
“Let us leave no stone unturned to instill the ideology and vision of the BJP among the people of India. I will march forward to fulfill this goal as Vice President. I thank all wishes. I express my sincere thanks to all for the overwhelming support.” Roy tweeted.
But the central BJP leadership that prefers turncoats over veterans hopes to cause a stir in the saffron brigade before state elections next year.
.
