With a divided house, can Mukul Roy pull off a Himanta Biswa Sarma for BJP in West Bengal?
Donning his new saffron robe, as Mukul Roy entered the Bengal BJP headquarter at 6, Murlidhar Sen Lane on November 6 afternoon, the excitement among party supporters was palpable. They had gathered in huge numbers at the airport to greet their new leader, one that the BJP’s Bengal unit has been desparately yearning in the recent past.
Plagued by factional feuds, the saffron brigade has failed to translate the momentum in its favour into electoral success. Despite coming up as the principal opposition in the state, the party lacks a strong grassroot-level organisation that can throw a befetting challenge to the Trinamool Congress.
Not surprising then that despite the opposition from a section within the Bengal unit, party president Amit Shah went ahead with his plan to induct Roy, notwithstanding the various corruption allegations against him. A clear show of no-confidence on the current Bengal leadership.
While his induction may have been on expected lines, the date and timing was a surprise for most in Bengal BJP. Roy, who had been camping in Delhi in recent weeks, finally got a call from Amit Shah on Friday. The party’s Bengal-in-charge Kailash Vijayvargia, who has played the most crucial role is accommodating Roy rushed to Delhi, cutting short his Bengal trip. Later that evening, senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad announced the decision at 11, Ashoka Road with none of the Bengal unit leaders present at the occasion.
For starters, Roy has made all the right noises. “My national captain is Amit Shah, and Dilip Ghosh is my Bengal captain,” Roy said in an apparent effort to strike a balance. He has his task cut out, to bring all the warring factions onboard and build an organisation to propel the party ahead.
But the job won’t be easy to say the least. None of the prominent state leaders like Roopa Ganguly, Rahul Sinha or Babul Supriyo were present to greet him on the occasion. It was left to state unit chief Dilip Ghosh alone who tried to put up a brave face claiming all was fine.
“All our leaders in the state are excited, they are all waiting eagerly (to work together). There is no divide here. You will see it when when we start working,” Ghosh told India Today.
All eyes will be on Roy as he takes centrestage, addressing his first rally for BJP on his home turf against former boss and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee later this week. On Monday, Roy brought out an envelope claiming that he will “come out” with a surpise on his first outing.
As a founding member of the TMC, who was once the closest confidante of Mamata Banerjee, Roy surely has more secrets up his sleeve than any current member of the Trinamool Congress. As he wriggles out of the CBI/ED scanner over the Saradha and Narada probe, the bargain could not have been more evident.
However, the big question that remains is - can Mukul Roy do a Himanta Biswa Sarma for the BJP in Bengal?