Economist and psephologist Ashok Lahiri possibly got his first taste of realpolitik after he was dropped as a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the West Bengal Assembly elections from Alipurduar under duress. Lahiri was moved to Balurghat. Suman Kanjilal, the BJP’s Alipurduar district secretary, wrested the nomination after leading protests against Lahiri.
The fracas over Lahiri’s candidacy was not an exception. The BJP faced stiff opposition over its choice of candidates in many places, casting doubts over the leadership’s decision to induct defectors from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), in