From Cooch Behar to Malda, BJP cadre are protesting some of the selections for Lok Sabha election tickets. Allegedly dubious candidates whom the party had been fighting for years have been nominated right after they left the TMC or CPI(M) and jumped on the right-wing bandwagon.
Kolkata/New Delhi: The Bengal unit of BJP is witnessing unrest after the first list was announced by the party on Thursday. Violence erupted in the Cooch Behar district in northern part of Bengal as many BJP workers were upset with the ‘ticket’ distribution.
BJP cadre, who were upset with the ticket being given to turncoat Nitish Pramanik, ransacked the party office. Pramanik had recently joined the BJP from the TMC. Local BJP leaders allege the ticket was given to Pramanik by scuttling the chances of BJP’s Dipak Burman who, they claim, stands a better chance of winning.
West Bengal: A group of BJP workers in Cooch Behar protested at the party office yesterday, after Nisith Pramanik (Pic 4-file pic)) who recently joined BJP was given ticket to contest from the parliamentary constituency. pic.twitter.com/mH8SPxDNvP
— ANI (@ANI)The local unit of the BJP is upset also because of the accusations against Pramanik that includes one of human trafficking. Locals claim Burman was with the BJP through thick and thin while leading a campaign against the TMC.
Dear TMC, here are 5 big riots Bengal saw in 2 years; Gujarat saw none since 2006
Reports have started pouring in that the Cooch Behar district unit has started to see a flurry of resignations by the BJP cadres. Online appeals are being made to vote for ‘none of the above’ (NOTA). It’s believed many BJP cadre approached Burman on Thursday night, urging him to fight as an independent candidate after the first list of nominations was announced.
Discontent is brewing not just in Cooch Behar. BJP’s state vice president Rajkamal Pathak resigned from the party after being denied a ticket from the Hooghly district.
In Malda too, BJP workers put up anti-party posters. Khagen Murmu, who joined BJP recently at an event in New Delhi, has been fielded. Murmu was a sitting MLA from the CPI(M).
Meanwhile, in Cooch Behar, where rebellion rules the roost, BJP cadre flashed posters saying, “BJP’r naame Dinhatar smuggler ke ektio vote noy” (Not a single BJP vote for the smuggler of Dinhata).
Over the last few months, a volley of turncoats joined the BJP in Bengal. From former IPS Bharati Ghosh to Khagen Murmu, Arjun Singh to Shankudeb Burman, plenty have jumped on the BJP bandwagon. Most of them have been fielded by the BJP for the 2019 Lok Sabha election while ignoring the party loyalists who originally led the fight against many of the turncoats.
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.