BJP leader Prabir Ghoshal criticises saffron party in TMC mouthpiece; party says he is free to leave

Reacting to Ghoshal's comments, BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh claimed he is making excuses to return to the TMC

The BJP was left red-faced after Prabir Ghoshal, a member if its West Bengal unit and TMC turncoat, denounced the saffron party in a TMC mouthpiece Jago Bangla, stating that the BJP members were "more interested in making money."

“There are more people in the BJP who want money than to work for the people,” Ghoshal wrote in an article titled Keno BJP kora jae na (Why one cannot remain in the BJP?), highlighting why the saffron party faces desertions.

Ghoshal contested the Assembly elections from Uttarpara in Hooghly on a BJP ticket but lost, after which he distanced himself from the party. Ghoshal, who quit the TMC along with former minister Rajib Banerjee in January, had then criticised the local TMC leadership as "corrupt" and claimed that he felt suffocated in a party like the TMC.

After the Mamata Banerjee-led party stormed to power for the third consecutive term by defeating the BJP, five BJP MLAs and several senior leaders, including Sabyasachi Dutta, Babul Supriyo, Rajib Banerjee and Mukul Roy, returned to the TMC.

The former state minister said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had contacted him when his mother was unwell, adding that the courtesy was not extended by his BJP colleagues. "I never had the faintest idea that I would land in such a party that is only interested in making money and infighting," he said.

Asked if he was trying to make his way back to the TMC, Ghoshal said, "I have no such plans as of now. I am enjoying my retired life."

Reacting to Ghoshal's comments, BJP's national vice president Dilip Ghosh claimed that he was making excuses to return to the TMC. "It seems that just like others, he too seeks to return to the TMC. That is why he is making such baseless allegations. If he wants to go, he is free to do that. But that doesn't mean he had to malign the BJP to score some political points," Ghosh said.

TMC state spokesperson and general secretary Kunal Ghosh said that it was good that Ghoshal "has realised his mistake." "The way he had left the party, we had condemned it. But now, if he has realised his mistake and is expressing his views, it is good. Now whether he will be inducted back in the party or not, it is for the leadership to decide," he said.

(With PTI inputs)

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