Union minister Shantanu Thakur will take up with Central party leaders the ongoing rift within the party, which he says is affecting the growth of the party in Bengal. He departed for Delhi from NSCBI airport today to join Budget session of Parliament.

Before leaving for the National Capital, he said a crisis looms large in the party, with many grievances dampening the spirit of the party workers and BJP is ultimately suffering in its bid to strengthen the base of the party before upcoming civic election.

“Two senior leaders were expelled by the state party recently even after they gave 30 years to the party. Where will they go now? I’ll speak to central leaders regarding all these matters. I shall also speak to Union home minister regarding implementation of CAA,” he said, referring to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Party sources said Mr Thakur yesterday held a long meeting with two senior suspended leaders. Meanwhile, BJP state president and MP Sukanta Majumder said all issues regarding the grievances could be resolved through discussion. “Shantanu Thakur is eminent leader of our party. He can meet MLAs, and MLAs can meet him and he may speak to central leaders. I spoke to him. All could be resolved through discussion, ” he said.

The rift in the BJP unit in West Bengal came out in the open recently with a section of state leaders led by Union minister Shantanu Thakur demanding the removal of a “particular” leader in the state committee. The West Bengal unit of the BJP announced its new state committee in December 2021 replacing several veterans and triggering rumblings in the organisation by retaining many who came from the Trinamul Congress (TMC).

Earlier, Mr Thakur and at least nine MLAs quit the party’s WhatsApp groups after the party overhauled its district committees. “Almost 90 per cent of the leaders, who helped to increase the BJP’s vote share from around 2 per cent to 40 per cent in the state, were excluded from all committees at the state, district, block and booth levels. It could be a conspiracy of a rival party. We want removal of that leader. We have already informed our national level leaders and we would take this protest forward in the future,” Mr Thakur said earlier.