BJP candidate Amrita Roy, who contested in West Bengal's Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency and lost to TMC's Mahua Moitra in the recent parliamentary elections, has accused local party workers of misappropriating her campaign funds.
Roy, a member of the Krishnanagar royal family, asserted that she was unaware of how the funds provided by the party high command for her election campaign were utilised. Simultaneously, she alleged that she did not receive the passbook and chequebook for the account where the money was deposited.
"I was shocked to know that despite the amount of money that came for me I was never informed. This saddened me and irritated me as well. My passbook and chequebook were kept by them [local party leaders]. See, I come from a well-to-do family, so I couldn’t ask them repeatedly," she told local media earlier this week.
"I repeatedly informed several people that I was not being informed about the account. I told them later I won’t take any blame. I am in complete dark about who received the money and who spent it and how it was spent," she added.
Given that the BJP identifies itself as a party with a strong anti-corruption stance, the allegations raised by its candidate have shocked many. Roy herself said that she was an honest person who wanted to fight corruption and felt she could do it with the help of the saffron party. She claimed she was assured by the BJP that her "honesty" would not be a problem for the party.
Meanwhile, local party leaders in Krishnanagar have dismissed her claim, questioning why she failed to raise these allegations during the election. They believe it was Roy’s tactic to shift the blame for her defeat onto the local party organisation.
"The money was deposited into her personal account. She signed all the cheques that were used to withdraw money. How can then she say she was not informed? What was there to inform? She saw everything," BJP Nadia district (Uttar) president Arjun Kumar Biswas told THE WEEK.
He alleged Roy had been misled by some people within the party who didn’t want her to win. "During the campaign, a section of the party was working behind the curtains with Trinamool. It was due to their betrayal that the BJP lost. Now they are misleading Roy," Biswas said.
"We are trying to communicate with her and we are hopeful about resolving the situation as soon as possible. This is just a misunderstanding."
Roy echoed the same feeling. "I did not raise any allegations of discrepancy against any local party workers. My comments were misinterpreted by the media," she told THE WEEK. "I don’t have anything else to say about the issue. It’s in past now."
In the 18th Lok Sabha elections, the BJP underperformed significantly in West Bengal, securing only 12 seats despite aiming for 30. Since the results came out, comments from several party leaders and candidates have highlighted the internal rift within the party.
BJP veteran Dilip Ghosh, who lost the Bardhaman-Durgapur seat to TMC's Kirti Azad, claimed some people "conspired behind his back" to shift him from his winning Medinipur seat to Bardhaman-Durgapur. Notably, the BJP lost Medinipur as well to Trinamool.
Similarly, Saumitra Khan, the BJP's MP-elect from Bishnupur, attributed the defeat of the BJP in West Bengal to the party’s state leadership. He said "certain decisions by state leadership" cost the BJP several seats in West Bengal.
Meanwhile, the BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, emphasized that the party’s performance has improved compared to the 2021 assembly elections. He said the BJP is currently ahead in more assembly segments than it was during the 2021 polls.