BJP grew when I was Bengal chief, going down after touts joined: Dilip amid protest over Digha visit
Digha/ Kolaghat (WB), May 1 (PTI): Faced with protests from a section of BJP workers for visiting the Jagannath temple in Digha, senior leader Dilip Ghosh on Thursday said it was during his tenure as the state president that the party gained in strength in West Bengal and has been on a downward slide ever since "touts" have joined it.
Ghosh, along with his newly-married wife Rinku Majumdar, visited the temple, built by the TMC government, on Wednesday and met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, triggering speculations that he may jump ship ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
Even as he rejected the speculations, a section of BJP workers protested against him when he made a brief stopover at Kolaghat while returning to Kolkata from Digha.
Engaged in a war of words with the protestors, Ghosh said, "The BJP grew to its present stature in West Bengal when I was the state president. Over 250 BJP workers gave their lives to take the party to its present position. People trusted us, but that trust is steadily going down. Ever since touts have joined the party, it is on the downside."
"If you want to fight your enemies, then fight the good fight, don't do drama. I am not here to switch parties, but to change the politics of the state," he told the protesting party supporters.
Ghosh, who became the state BJP president in 2015, was removed from the post after the 2021 assembly elections.
Asked about the decision to visit the temple, he told reporters at the Digha sea beach in the morning, "Our party did not ask us to skip the invitation. I have been invited, and that is the reason I have come here. I have got the guts to do so."
"Why do lakhs of people go to the Ram temple in Ayodhya and the Kashi Viswanath temple in Varanasi? Even Mamata Banerjee had asked her party leaders not to go to Kumbh Mela, but there were many who went. Have they committed any crime? Do you know who built the Kalighat and Dakshineswar temples? It is not important who built the temple, people go because god is worshipped there," he added.
Asked about the speculations of joining the TMC, Ghosh shot back, "Why should I?"
"I am not having a bad time. I have not changed in the last 10 years, I have not changed my party like many others who switch sides whenever there is an election. Dilip Ghosh does not need to change sides," he said.
Ghosh's visit to the temple and subsequent meeting with Banerjee, a part of which was live-streamed on the CM's Facebook page, raised several eyebrows, with BJP leaders not hiding their anguish.
Sharing a photo of the meeting between Ghosh and Banerjee, senior BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta said in a post on X, "The outrage among grassroots BJP Bengal workers at this apparent betrayal by a former state president is too deafening for the national leadership to ignore."
On the criticisms, the former Kharagpur MP, who lost the last Lok Sabha elections against TMC's Kirti Azad in the Bardhaman-Durgapur seat, said, "People keep on talking about Dilip Ghosh. Even if they talk negatively, that works as an advertisement for me."
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said the party did not endorse his visit.
"It's Dilip Ghosh's personal choice. But the party doesn't endorse the visit. Many of our MLAs were invited, but nobody visited due to the atrocities against Hindus in various places of the state," he said.
Asked about the visit, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said, "I don't want to talk about him."
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Israeli airstrikes kill 23 in Gaza as outcry over aid blockade grows
Deir al-Balah, May 10 (AP): Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Saturday killed at least 23 Palestinians in Gaza, including three children and their parents whose tent was bombed in Gaza City, health officials said.
The bombardment continued as international warnings grow over Israeli plans to control aid distribution in Gaza as Israel's blockade on the territory of over 2 million people is in its third month.
The UN and aid groups have rejected Israel's aid distribution moves, including a plan from a group of American security contractors, ex-military officers and humanitarian aid officials calling itself the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Among the 23 bodies brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours were those of the family of five whose tent was struck in Gaza City's Sabra district, Gaza's Health Ministry said.
Another Israeli strike late Friday hit a warehouse belonging to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in the northern area of Jabaliya. Four people were killed, according to the Indonesian Hospital, where bodies were taken.
AP video showed fires burning in the shattered building. The warehouse was empty after being hit and raided multiple times during Israeli ground offensives against Hamas fighters over the past year, said residents including Hamza Mohamed.
Israel's military said nine soldiers were lightly wounded Friday night by an explosive device while searching Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood. It said they were evacuated to a hospital in Israel.
Israel resumed its bombardment in Gaza on March 18, shattering a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. Ground troops have seized more than half the territory and have been conducting raids and searching parts of northern Gaza and the southernmost city of Rafah. Large parts of both areas have been flattened by months of Israeli operations.
Under Israel's blockade, charity kitchens are virtually the only source of food left in Gaza, but dozens have shut down in recent days as food supplies run out. Aid groups say more closures are imminent. Israel has said the blockade is meant to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages and disarm. Rights groups have called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.
Israel accuses Hamas and other fighter groups of siphoning off aid in Gaza, though it hasn't presented evidence for its claims. The U.N. denies significant diversion takes place, saying it monitors distribution.
The 19-month-old war in Gaza is the most devastating ever fought between Israel and Hamas. It has killed more than 52,800 people there, more than half of them women and children, and wounded more than 119,000, according to the Health Ministry. The ministry's count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas members, without giving evidence.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel in which Hamas group killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped over 250 others. Hamas still holds about 59 hostages, with around a third believed to still be alive.
Hamas released a video Saturday showing hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana, who appeared under duress. They were abducted during the Oct. 7 attack from a music festival where over 300 people were killed. Hamas released a video of them a month and half ago and has released several videos of Bohbot alone since then.
