BJP's latest list of candidates for West Bengal full of surprises
Kolkata (PTI): The BJP surprised many with its latest list of Lok Sabha candidates for West Bengal, nominating a protester from Sandeshkhali for the Basirhat constituency and changing the seats of its two incumbent MPs - the party's former state chief Dilip Ghosh and ex-Union minister Debasree Chowdhury.
Former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Ganguly, who joined the BJP recently, was nominated from the Tamluk Lok Sabha seat, a stronghold of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari and his family.
The incumbent MP from Barrackpore, Arjun Singh, who returned to the BJP this month after defecting to the Trinamool Congress two years ago, was re-nominated from the same seat.
The BJP named 19 candidates in the list released on Sunday, taking the total number of its nominees announced for West Bengal so far to 38. The state sends 42 MPs to the Lok Sabha.
One of the most significant choices of the party has been Rekha Patra, a housewife from the troubled region of Sandeshkhali, who has been nominated for the Basirhat seat.
The candidature of Patra, reportedly a victim of torture by now-suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his associates, is seen as a strong statement on the part of the BJP in support of the women of Sandeshkhali and West Bengal.
Sheikh, a key accused in sexual assault and land grab charges in Sandeshkhali, was arrested last month in connection with an assault on Enforcement Directorate officers on January 5.
In a post on X, Amit Malviya, the party's West Bengal co-in-charge, said, "The BJP has fielded Rekha Patra from Basirhat in Bengal. She is one of the victims of Sandeshkhali, who suffered at the hands of Sheikh Shahjahan."
"Let Mamata Banerjee wipe the tears of women like her, who are suffering in silence, and are subject to her apathy before she asks for their vote. A strong statement that @BJP4Bengal stands with the women of Sandeshkhali and Bengal," he added.
Another surprise in the BJP's list of candidates was removing Dilip Ghosh from the Medinipur Lok Sabha seat, considered his stronghold, and assigning him the task of contesting from the Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha seat. The Trinamool Congress has fielded former cricketer Kirti Azad in the seat.
Similarly, former Union minister Debasree Chowdhury was shifted from her Raiganj Lok Sabha seat to the South Kolkata constituency, the stronghold of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Reacting to these changes, Ghosh said, "Whenever the party thinks there is a tough task ahead, it assigns the job to me. Now, I will try my best to win the Bardhaman-Durgapur seat."
On the other hand, Chowdhury said, "I will abide by whatever the party has decided. I always fought against heavyweight leaders. I am a loyal worker of the party."
However, the re-nomination of Raju Bista from the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat stirred discontent, with party MLA Bishnu Prasad Sharma expressing dissatisfaction over nominating an "outsider" for the hills.
Sharma criticized the party for repeatedly choosing candidates with no local ties to the Darjeeling hills, stating, "We wanted a son of the soil from the seat. But the party again decided to give him the ticket. The people will give a reply."
Jayanta Ray was re-nominated in Jalpaiguri while and former TMC leader Tapas Ray, who recently joined the BJP, got the ticket for the Kolkata North constituency.
Amrita Roy, who belongs to the royal family of Krishnanagar, has been nominated for the Krishnanagar seat and will take on TMC's Mahua Moitra.
Reacting to the BJP's list of candidates, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh mocked the delay in releasing the full list and expressed surprise at Dilip Ghosh's candidature from Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha seat.
"It is quite astonishing that the BJP is yet to release its full list of candidates. It is really shocking to see the way the party is treating Dilip Ghosh, its most successful state president," Ghosh said.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
