Hours after the BJP published its list of candidates for the third and fourth phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, veterans who were benched expressed their anguish over giving preference to newcomers, while some decided quit the party. Supporters of some BJP leaders also held protests in various parts of the state.
BJP leader and TMC defector Sovan Chatterjee and his partner Baishakhi Banerjee left the saffron party after both were denied tickets. Chatterjee expected to be sent from Behala Purba, who had won in 2011 and 2016 as TMC MLA. It emerged that Chatterjee, in a letter to West Bengal BJP Chairman Dilip Ghosh, said that he and Banerjee no longer wished to remain in the party. In a Facebook post, Banerjee said she had been “humiliated” and claimed that “conspiracies and betrayal” would not last long.
At a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, BJP Secretary General Arun Singh, along with West Bengal Union Ministers Babul Supriyo and Debasree Chaudhuri, released the names of 63 candidates for the third and fourth phase of the elections to be held on April 6 and 10.
BJP Alipurduar district chairman Ganga Prasad Sharma rebelled against party candidates Ashok Lahiri (Alipurduar) and Bishal Lama (Kalchini) saying that district leaders were not consulted prior to their selection. Lahiri, who retired as CEO of the Asian Development Bank in June 2013, has served as Senior Economic Advisor to the Government of India. “We were completely in the dark about these candidates. We do not approve of them. The party should have taken our opinion before selecting them, ”Sharma said. He left in the middle of a meeting at a BJP party office in Alipurduar.
In a Facebook post, former Hooghly District BJP Chairman Subir Nag said he was “betrayed” and was leaving politics. Sources revealed that he was unhappy after BJP MP Locket Chatterjee was named Chuchura’s candidate. “Today I feel that the party no longer requires my services. Therefore, I have decided to stay away from politics, ”Nag said.
BJP workers protested after the four-time TMC MLA and movement face Singur Rabindranath Bhattacharya, who joined the BJP last week after his name was not on the TMC list, was fined.
“Rabindranath Bhattacharya is a TMC leader, who joined the BJP after his party denied him the ticket. And today, some of the central leaders of the BJP in collusion with Bhattacharya gave him the party nomination. We will never accept it. The party has to change its decision, ”a local BJP leader from Singur told the PTI news agency.
Protests were also held in several other districts after applicants for tickets did not find their names on the list.
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Shyampur is one of those districts where actress Tanushree Chakraborty, a newcomer to the BJP, was nominated. Angry BJP workers ransacked a party office at Panchla headquarters in Howrah district, where TMC defector Mohitlal Ghati received the ballot.
BJP State Secretary General Sayantan Basu said: “Well, the party cannot give everyone a ticket. Someone may not have understood. Expressing anger is understandable, but we will have conversations with them to resolve their issues. “
Minutes after he was sent from Howrah Dakshin’s seat, Rantidev Sengupta refused to contest the election, saying he did not ask for the selection. A few hours later, he changed his decision after the party leadership convinced him.
After TMC published its list of candidates, similar protests erupted from aspiring candidates across the state. Some of its leaders also left the party.
(With PTI inputs)
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