In Mamata’s Bengal, BJP cuts a sorry figure, leaning heavily on RSS

Be it escalating Sandeshkhali issue or hard-selling CAA, state BJP has been unable to mobile large-scale support; key operations are manned by Sangh cadres
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar at an election rally in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, April 4, 2024. Many in West Bengal BJP rue that the state unit has become organisationally weak. Image: PTI

By Samir K Purkayastha

Former Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh was recently appalled by the state of party organisation in the Bardhaman–Durgapur Lok Sabha constituency.

He was interacting with the outfit’s block-level leaders to devise his campaign plan in the constituency he has been forced to contest after being shunted out from Medinipur, the seat he won in 2019.

The party does not have a committee in most booths there. A vividly upset Ghosh, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak-turned politician, promptly roped in his parent organisation to plug the gap.

This story was originally published in thefederal.com. Read the full story here.