When Dilip Ghosh, former BJP MP and the party’s former State president, visited the newly constructed Jagannath Temple in Digha on the day of its inauguration on April 30, at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s invitation, it immediately elicited widespread outrage among a large section of the party and sparked off unrestrained mudslinging between some of the topmost leaders.
With the Assembly election just a year away, the BJP can ill-afford to present itself as a house in disarray, but that is precisely what it has done.
The Jagannath temple, set up at a cost of Rs. 250 crore, is one of Mamata Banerjee’s most prestigious projects. However, just a few weeks before the inauguration, the State was rocked by communal violence in Murshidabad district, in which Hindu households were targeted by miscreants. Against that backdrop, Dilip Ghosh’s visit to the temple with his wife and his informal chat with the Chief Minister shortly thereafter were met with outrage and condemnation by a sizeable section of his party.
State BJP president and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar said that the party did not endorse Ghosh’s visit to the temple at a time when “atrocities were being perpetrated upon Hindus in different parts of the State”.
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To add to the BJP’s discomfort, Ghosh even had words of praise for the Chief Minister. He said: “Whoever God finds deserving, he makes them create. He created this temple through the Chief Minister.”
The almost instantaneous outrage among a section of BJP workers gave the impression that discontent and animosity had been simmering for long, just waiting for an opportunity to spill over.
Outrage from internal party workers
BJP workers staged demonstrations against Ghosh in different places, accusing him of having “dealings” with the Trinamool. Ghosh, who is credited with strengthening the party organisation and making it the main opposition party in the State, was now being accused of planning to join the Trinamool.
BJP leader Koustav Bagchi said on social media: “There is no way of understanding from his [Ghosh’s] statement whether he is a BJP leader or a Trinamool spokesperson.” A veteran BJP leader and former State president alleged that Ghosh was already in the process of joining Trinamool, but Ghosh denied any such plans.
There is no denying that Ghosh has, over the years, been sidelined to the point of almost losing his relevance in West Bengal politics. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he was not even allowed to contest from Medinipur, a seat he had won in 2019. After losing the constituency he was given, Bardhaman Durgapur, Ghosh said: “Everyone knows that I was removed from Medinipur because of backstabbing. In the process of trying to defeat me, we lost the Medinipur seat also.”
There have been growing rumblings within the party that the BJP’s old guard from the State was being increasingly nudged out by the relatively new brigade that had joined from the Trinamool and other parties, headed by Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly.
Senior BJP leader Tathagata Roy said, “It makes no difference if Dilip Ghosh joins the Trinamool or the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Consider his importance and then ask, what difference will it make if he leaves?”
CM Mamata Banerjee with Ghosh during the inauguration of the temple. The controversy over the visit exposes not just ideological differences but deep personal rivalries within the BJP’s State unit.
| Photo Credit:
ANI
The temple issue once again brought to the fore the longstanding feud between the ‘adi’ (original) BJP and the ‘nobbo’ (new) BJP. Former Trinamool leaders who switched loyalties to the BJP, including Bishnupur Lok Sabha MP Saumitra Khan and Barrackpore strongman Arjun Singh, were unsparing in their criticism of Ghosh.
Arjun Singh, a former Trinamool MLA, said, “The party [BJP] will be saved if Dilip Ghosh leaves. If he leaves, nothing will be in the way of the BJP coming to power in 2026.”
Ghosh retorted: “Who are the ones who are the loudest in criticising me? It is those who grew up under the influence of Mamata Banerjee. Those who are attacking my character once existed with the blessings of Kalighat [the area where Mamata Banerjee lives] and are now existing with the blessings of the BJP. Those who never contributed anything to the party will never understand what the BJP is or who Dilip Ghosh is.”
He also accused Arjun Singh of being involved in extortion and coal smuggling.
The subsequent exchange of allegations and barbs between the saffron party leaders became increasingly personal, indicating not just political differences but also deeply personal animosity.
Saumitra Khan called Dilip Ghosh a “shame on the Bengal BJP”. In what has been interpreted a thinly-veiled barb at Ghosh’s newly married status, Khan, a former Trinamool MP, said on social media: “You, Dilip babu, are an ideal example of how to turn from a tyagi [a person who renounces] to a bhogi [one who gives himself up to earthly pleasures]”.
Dilip Ghosh struck back with an equally personal attack, saying: “Those who have married four times, keep 14 girlfriends, live one kind of life at night and another kind during the day…these are the people who are calling Dilip Ghosh ‘tyagi’, ‘bhogi’… People know who Dilip Ghosh is.” He also threatened to expose the secrets of those attacking him.
Turmoil within the party
Time and again, the West Bengal BJP has received issues on a platter to attack the State government—be it corruption, law and order, or communal flare-ups, but on every occasion, it has squandered the opportunity. A sizeable section of the party workers and leaders even hold the Central BJP responsible for the plight of the Bengal unit.
“There are many among us who believe that the Central leadership is in a secret understanding with the Trinamool, which it makes use of during Parliament sessions. Many of our Central leaders are not really bothered about the condition in Bengal. Many here feel that there is a concerted effort to keep the BJP weak in the State. The way a leader like Dilip Ghosh has been cornered, despite all his contributions to the party’s growth, is a clear indication of that,” a highly placed source, known to be in Ghosh’s camp, told Frontline.
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He pointed out that the party organisation in the State was still very weak, adding that by sidelining Ghosh, an organisation man with roots in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), “the Centre is ensuring that the party does not grow strong in the days to come”.
So far, the BJP has been training its guns on the Trinamool for the latter’s perceived appeasement of Muslims, and the recent attacks on Hindus in Murshidabad added strength to its political narrative of Hindus not being safe in the State. So, it is indeed ironic that a temple issue has done the utmost damage to the party’s image in recent times.
In the coming election, there will be no dearth of issues for the BJP to attack the ruling party with. However, with inner-party feuds showing no signs of abating, the saffron party appears to be fighting more than just one political battle. Unless it can resolve its internal issues, the Trinamool, despite all its problems, will continue to hold a perceptible advantage in the electoral fray.
Source:https://frontline.thehindu.com/politics/dilip-ghosh-jagannath-temple-visit-bjp-feud-west-bengal-politics/article69567317.ece