Updated: September 27, 2020 1:08:13 pm
Rahul Sinha, who had served two consecutive terms as BJP state chairman and was appointed the party’s national secretary in 2015. (Archive)
With the Assembly elections in West Bengal only a few months away, three BJP state leaders, including Mukul Roy, received prominent positions in the new national team announced by party chair JP Nadda on Saturday.
While Roy has been appointed National Vice President of BJP, Anupam Hazra and Raju Bista have been appointed National Secretary and National Spokesperson respectively.
However, the party removed Rahul Sinha from the position of BJP national secretary, sparking open dissent.
In a video message, Sinha said: “I have given the BJP so many years. I have given my 40 years to the party. The award I received is that a TMC leader is coming, so I have to go. My party has rewarded me and I have nothing to say. Whatever I have to say, I’ll say it in the next 10-12 days. “
Sinha, who had served two consecutive terms as BJP state chairman and was appointed the party’s national secretary in 2015, was referring to the elevation of Roy and Hazra.
Roy, a number two time in the Trinamool Congress, joined the BJP in November 2017 and later became its member of the national executive committee. He played a vital role in the rise of the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and, as a strategist, facilitated the entry of TMC leaders into the party.
Hazra, a former MP, joined the BJP in March 2019 after being kicked out of the TMC. Bista is a BJP MP from Darjeeling.
Speaking to the media after his appointment as BJP National Vice President, Roy said: “The BJP is the largest party in the world. I pay my respects to the chairman of the party, JP Naddaji. I accept responsibility with humility. I am grateful to our leader Narendra Modiji and Amit Shahji. Just as our party grew when Amit Shahji was the party chairman, now we will help the party grow under JP Naddaji. After Bihar, several states, including Bengal and Assam, will go to the polls. Although I am a voter from Delhi, I was born in Bengal. This is my state. Bengal will go to the Assembly polls in March, April or May. Together with leaders like Dilip Ghosh here, we will try to achieve the victory of the BJP in Bengal. “
The move, according to state leaders, will boost Bengal’s participation in the BJP national team.
“Although Mukul da became the main strategist of the Bengal party after joining the BJP, he did not hold any position in the party. Subsequently, he became a member of the national executive committee. He was the man behind many defections from TMC. He was also the key strategist in the Lok Sabha polls in which the BJP won 18 seats. We owe this position and respect to him, ”said a BJP leader close to Roy.
Roy’s elevation is being seen as an attempt by the party to utilize the electoral strategy talent of the formal TMC leader ahead of next year’s Assembly elections. The induction of Raju Bista and Anupam Hazra into the central team of the match is also seen as a step in the direction.
Furthermore, Roy’s rise could be seen as an effort by the party to placate the leader amid reports of bitter ties with BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh. The announcement came after the party’s central leadership resolved the differences between Roy and Ghosh. There has been unrest between the veterans under Ghosh and the defectors from TMC under Roy.
By giving prominence to Roy, once a close associate of TMC director Mamata Banerjee, the BJP has also signaled to TMC leaders, who are eager to resign from the party, that they would be adequately rewarded if they switched sides before the polls.
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