New dilemma for BJP in Bengal: Conditions set by TMC deserters

Sovan Chatterjee, Kolkata’s former mayor, was once the most trusted lieutenant of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the TMC after Mukul Roy. Chatterjee held two portfolios in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet. His exit from the TMC to join the BJP in August, no doubt, dealt the party a severe blow similar to the one it received when Roy left to join the BJP.

In 2010, shortly before he was chosen as mayor of Kolkata by Mamata, Chatterjee said, “If needed, I am ready to stand at the traffic signal every day for Didi (Mamata). Or if she desires, I need to stand anywhere for hours, I would do that.”

Last month, when he was given a rousing reception at the BJP party office in Kolkata, Chatterjee said, “I will do the same for Dilip Da (Dilip Ghosh, West Bengal BJP president).” Chatterjee joined the BJP in a low-profile event in Delhi.

Chatterjee did not come alone to the BJP. He also came with a “special friend”, Baisakhi Banerjee, a professor of the Milli Al Ameen College, Kolkata.

Along with Chatterjee, Baisakhi made an entry into the BJP by lashing out at Mamata’s party and its leaders. However, a week later, Chatterjee and Baisakhi began complaining. They said that many conditions “imposed” by them before joining were not being adhered to by the saffron party.

That the West Bengal BJP unit was not at all happy with the inclusion of the TMC leaders was apparent when many leaders voiced their concern to Ghosh. Ghosh himself was not in favour of the former TMC leaders joining the BJP and referred to Baisakhi and Chatterjee as nothing but “rice and dal”.

Many political observers mocked the remarks made by Ghosh, Many thought Ghosh was apparently alluding to the kind of relationship existing between Chatterjee and Baisakhi, which even Mamata had initially conceived as not just a friendship but much more than that or “something very special”.

Chatterjee’s exit from the TMC was because Mamata used to “publicly abuse” him over his relation with Baisakhi, on multiple fora: cabinet meetings, in the Assembly or in the presence of officials and journalists.

However, another set of politicians termed Ghosh’s use of the “rice and dal” analogy to refer to Chatterjee and Baisakhi as nothing but an attempt to give them less prominence as rice and dal are considered part of a bland diet.

But political circles are agog over the conditions put forward by the two TMC deserters. What could these conditions be?

Chatterjee, a couple of days after joining the BJP, was called by the CBI for questioning in the Narada sting operation case. He skipped the meeting to give a voice sample, citing his preoccupation to fight a divorce case with his wife. Surprisingly, on the same day that he received the CBI call, he and Baisakhi called up BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and expressed their displeasure. Are Baisakhi and Chatterjee wanting to be relieved of “harassment” by the CBI?

Another condition Chatterjee and Baisakhi reportedly put was that the BJP would not accommodate TMC leaders who are opposed to Chatterjee. The BJP has a grand plan to include actor-turned-politician and Raidighi MLA Debasree Roy. But Chatterjee has vehemently opposed the plan.

Prodded by Arvind Menon, BJP’s minder for West Bengal, Chatterjee later met with Debasree Roy at the latter’s Delhi residence on August 7. In the meeting, both of them said their points of contention were discussed and matters got sorted out.

But on August 8, landing at the Kolkata Airport from Delhi, differences erupted between the duo again and they said, “nothing has been resolved yet.”

No one exactly knew what was the reason behind Chatterjee’s U-turn. However, the West Bengal BJP is fuming as multiple leaders protested with Ghosh about the “high-handedness” of the TMC deserters.

Locket Chatterjee, chief of the women’s wing of the BJP, said, “If one has to stay in BJP, they would have to accept party discipline and party ideology.”

State BJP vice president Biswapriya Roychowdhury termed the saffron party as a frying pan. “Very few can survive here (the BJP). Yes, the party is open to everyone. But it’s not easy to stay in our party,” said Roychowdhury.

Interestingly, the TMC is yet to suspend or expel Sovan Chatterjee, a leader who once used to carry Mamata Banerjee’s mobile phone.