Those who change partners shouldn't preach, says Dilip
2
Kolkata: A year after he was "replaced" as the
BJP
candidate from his "stronghold", Midnapore, ahead of the
2024 Lok Sabha polls
,
Dilip Ghosh
on Thursday took aim at his critics in the party. "I do not need to learn about BJP from those who earlier survived on Kalighat's leftovers, and now live on BJP's leftovers," Ghosh said, adding that those who "change partners" should not preach to him.
Ghosh's visit to the Jagannath temple at the invitation of CM
Mamata Banerjee
had led to a fusillade of remarks against him, with Bishnupur MP Saumitra Khan leading the charge. Khan, who defected to BJP from
Trinamool
, said Ghosh seemed to have lost the plot. "He has become senile in his old age. He used to claim to be a tyagi (one who renounced all), but I see him as a bhogi (a pleasurist). People don't want to see a person like this, who breaks his vows at such a mature age. Is he planning to join Trinamool?" Khan said.
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Without naming Khan, Ghosh responded: "Look at his political career and his political associations. We have such netas in BJP who have strange bedfellows at night and try to look innocent the next morning. We have kept them in the party. The day we stop doing that, they will change colours. Such politicians should neither preach to BJP nor me."
The former Bengal BJP president faced 'go back' slogans from local netas at Kolaghat. Ghosh was dismissive of their actions, saying fly-by-night operators had joined the party. "I have poured carbolic acid in pits. Snakes have now started coming out. But that cannot stop me," he said.
He said he was not bothered by those who had breakfast with BJP, lunch with Trinamool, and then came back to BJP for dinner. "This is the crowd that joined the party during the 2021 assembly polls. They were children when I started fighting against Trinamool in 2015," Ghosh said.
Referring to his meeting with the CM, the BJP senior said: "PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee took a bus to Lahore. But when the time came, he bombed Pakistan bases in Kargil. PM Narendra Modi met the Pakistan PM (Nawaz Sharif) in Lahore. But when the time came, he put the nation first and ordered surgical strikes. In BJP, meeting and greeting has not caused anyone to deviate from our duty — to the nation and the party."
Former Tripura governor and BJP veteran Tathagata Roy had also criticised Ghosh for his bonhomie with Banerjee at the Jagannath temple in Digha. "The way he posed before the camera with the CM clearly points to his defection. He must have decided in his mind and looks like he is ready to join Trinamool," he said.
Ghosh hit back, questioning Roy's "performance" as BJP party president when he managed only a 4% vote share, saying: "His only interest seems to be his evening get-togethers."
Incidentally, Ghosh has been the most successful Bengal BJP president, leading the party to win 18 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and a 40.7% vote share, then narrowing the gap with Trinamool to only 3%.
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