Bengal: Dissent against yet another BJP candidate; poster calls Barasat nominee ‘lunatic’

Kolkata, March 27: The inner rift in the BJP in West Bengal over the nomination of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha election has got exposed once again, this time in Barasat. Party workers have protested the candidature of Mrinal Kanti Debnath and demanded that district president Pradip Banerjee be fielded instead.

What is even more embarrassing for the saffron party is that the dissenting party workers have pasted posters in the public seeking replacement of Debnath who they also described as a "lunatic". The poster was seen in the railway station premises in Habra, one of the Assembly segments under Barasat Lok Sabha constituency.

According to local media reports, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) took a dig at the BJP's internal feud while the saffron party called it a conspiracy by the ruling party.

A few days ago, pictures of posters protesting the candidature of Sayantan Basu in Basirhat constituency became viral on the social media. The posters spoke about not voting for "outsiders".

Now, the same has been seen in Barasat and even the dissenting workers have threatened that if Banerjee is not fielded from the constituency in North 24 Parganas district, the party cadres will vote for NOTA (None of the Above).

The local BJP leadership said it was a conspiracy against the BJP which he said is a party with discipline.

In 2014, Ghosh Dastidar defeated magician PC Sorcar Junior

Debnath, who is not a known face in politics, has been fielded against two-time TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. Last time, Ghosh Dastidar defeated magician PC Sorcar Junior, who had contested on the BJP's ticket, from the same seat.

While Sorcar finished third, Ghosh Dastidar defeated her nearest opponent - Forward Bloc's (FB) Mortaza Hossain by 1.73 lakh votes. In 2009, the TMC candidate defeated FB's Sudin Chattopadhyay by 1.22 lakh votes.

The TMC is confident that Ghosh Dastidar will complete a hat-trick from Barasat constituency this time and the lesser-known candidate from the BJP will be easily routed.