The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in the news in West Bengal since the results of the Lok Sabha elections. But perhaps more than the BJP’s growing popularity in the state, there have been controversies over two former Trinamool Congress senior leaders who are now with the BJP – Mukul Roy and Sovon Chatterjee. What does BJP’s West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh have to say on these two senior former Trinamool leaders? How does he rate them?
Q: A number of Trinamool Congress leaders have joined the BJP following Mukul Roy’s steps. Some of them have also been involved in controversies. How far has BJP gained strength due to these former Trinamool leaders?
Dilip Ghosh: Mukul Roy has made no contribution, neither has he any reputation. That is the truth. He has no organisational strength or workers with him. Those who are seen with him are touts and cut-money takers as well. At times, they also try to get photographed with me. Mukul Roy had told me that he would bring 50,000 workers with him, but could not bring even 500. They can’t even make the party win.
The only asset we got [from among Trinamool leaders] is Arjun Singh [MP from Barrackpore]. He won the seat despite being under pressure. Had it been anyone else, we couldn’t have won the Barrackpore seat. But then, he doesn’t follow the party system, he has his own style. But Mukul Roy doesn’t even have that. In our party, Nishith Pramanik [MP from Cooch Behar] has more value and contribution than Mukul Roy.
Q: What about Sovon Chatterjee? Why has there been such a lot of controversy around him from the time he joined the BJP?
Dilip Ghosh: Sovon has become a zero. He has no power to take his own decisions. [His friend] Baishakhi has total control over him. Unless he is able to come out of her control, Sovon Chatterjee will be of no us to us.
Q: Right now, the National Register for Citizens (NRC) is a very important issue in the country. Your party is in favour of the NRC here…
Dilip Ghosh: The NRC in Assam is complex. Assamese, Bengalis, Hindus, Muslims, Gorkhas – there are so many issues involved. But in West Bengal, it is not so complex. All are Bengalis. We have demanded for NRC here, and there’s no question of taking a different stand. If the BJP comes to power, we will implement NRC here.
Q: The name Dilip Ghosh is synonymous with controversial comments. Do you consciously make such comments?
Dilip Ghosh: To an extent, yes. I need media support. And the media reports controversial comments. If I am in the news, my party will be in the news. Moreover, people in general avoid controversies. But if one is to fight Mamata Banerjee, one cannot avoid controversies.
Here, people used to be afraid of making any comment on Amartya Sen. But when I said something against him, I found that many were supporting me. Over the past few months, my car has been attacked several times, and I could have avoided these trips half the time. But I did not. There have been trouble, and the media has reported them. And it has been good for us. If we are in the middle of controversies, we can be in the news and it’s important for us.
