Organisational changes, influx from other parties dominate

Changes in the party organisation, setting its course for the 2021 West Bengal assembly election and the need for a cross check mechanism of workers joining it dominated BJP's brain storming session, its leaders said on Saturday.

The meeting saw a large section of BJP state-level leaders openly voicing their concern over the influx from TMC and other parties and the probable consequences of opening the party's doors to them without any proper background check.

The two-day 'Chintan Baithak' of Bengal BJP began in Durgapur on Saturday and is the first major meeting of the party after the Lok Sabha election results. It is being attended by senior central leaders and all the office bearers of the party's state unit.

BJP leaders said issues of organisational changes in the party were discussed at the meeting. "We have to strenghten our organisation with an eye on next assembly polls in the state due in 2021".

They said some of the leaders openly expressed their concern over tainted leaders from TMC joining BJP and maligning the state party unit's image at the state level.

Several party old timers had sought to know why TMC and CPI(M) leaders who had once tortured and harrassed BJP workers are now being allowed to join it. They sought a "cross check mechanism".

"They spoke against the freefall (of workers) from other parties without any background check," a senior state BJP leader said.

"BJP is a party with a difference and we have to set an example as people of Bengal are looking at us," he said.

The central BJP leadership has set a target of one crore membership from West Bengal and the state unit has claimed to have enrolled around 60 lakh so far. The membership drive will continue for the next few days.

The meeting also discussed the reverting of five of the six municipal bodies in West Bengal to the TMC from the saffron party after the Lok Sabha elections has embarrased the BJP central leadership, the leaders said.

The state BJP sources said although the central leadership is happy with the party's "magnificent performance" in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, where it won 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats, it is not happy with the induction of leaders from other parties without "proper background check".

BJP's Bengal minder and general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, national secretary (organisation) Shiv Prakash, co-incharge of Bengal Arvind Menon and BJP state president Dilip Ghosh are attending the meeting.

BJP had won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state this election, just four less than the TMC, garnering 41 per cent of the vote share.