The latest chapter of inner conflict in Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) West Bengal camp, featuring party’s state president Dilip Ghosh and youth-wing chief Saumitra Khan, has refused to embrace a mutual and happy ending.
After Ghosh had dismissed the districts committees of Yuba Morcha, the party’s youth wing, on Thursday, without informing its chief, Khan on Friday informed that he would not communicate with the state president by himself.
However, Khan, Member of Parliament from the Bishnupur constituency, has reportedly expressed his willingness to sit with Ghosh in a meeting, mediated by someone from BJP’s central leadership in New Delhi.
According to a report in Bengali portal The Wall, Khan had left a Yuba Morcha WhatsApp group, raising speculations that he might tender his resignation from the party. However, the 39-year dismissed the rumours soon after.
Meanwhile, Ghosh and Khan are known to share a sour relationship with each other. Even though Ghosh himself had officially made Khan the youth wing chief, it was believed to have happened after pressure from New Delhi.
According to reports in Bengali media, instead of TMC turncoat Khan in the Yuba Morcha seat, Midnapore MP Ghosh wanted someone who had been a BJP worker all his life .
Adding salt to the injury, Khan had gone on to work on his terms and took a high-handed approach in selecting the members of Yuba Morcha’s district committees after becoming the chief.
Ghosh’s patience with Khan reached a boiling point after the latter brought three new members, including another TMC-turned-BJP leader Shankudeb Panda, in the saffron party’s youth wing on Thursday.
Like Khan’s selection, the new members were also roped in with official permission from Ghosh. But within hours of the new members’ arrival, Ghosh issued an official notice dismissing all the Yuba Morcha committees in the district level.
The latest step from Ghosh had enraged Khan, who took his complaint to BJP’s central leadership in New Delhi.
“Right from leading the Mahila Morcha to the youth wing to the state party leadership, Dilip Da wants to lead everything alone. If this is what Delhi also wants then be it,” Khan said.