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Updated: Aug 20, 2019 21:16 IST

Induction of some tainted Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders into the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) led to heated exchanges at the crucial brainstorming session of the saffron party’s Bengal unit held earlier this month.

The ‘chintan baithak’ on August 10 and 11 was attended by office-bearers of the BJP’s state unit, central leaders and some recently elected Lok Sabha lawmakers in West Burdwan district’s Durgapur city. BJP’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and national secretary (organisation) Shiv Prakash were among the central leaders who attended the session.

A sizeable section of those involved in expanding the BJP and its frontal organisations in the districts said that TMC leaders were being welcomed without any scrutiny which was damaging for a cadre-based party. Under pressure, the leadership decided to set up screening committees at state and district levels to monitor inductions in future.

Also read: Sovan Chatterjee’s induction may boost BJP’s chances in Kolkata civic polls

“Taking in TMC leaders at random is not only damaging the image of the Bengal BJP but also hurting the organisation at a time when we have won 18 of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats. If this trend continues, we will suffer in the assembly polls in 2021,” a BJP leader, who attended the session, said on condition of anonymity.

The leader, who is a former pracharak of the Rashtriya Shayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP, said these issues will be discussed at its upcoming conference.

Swastika, the RSS mouthpiece in West Bengal, carried two articles in June in which the issue was highlighted.

The chintan baithak also witnessed debates over the induction of TMC workers in several districts where they were involved in attacks on BJP workers. The leaders also discussed how four civic bodies that the BJP managed to capture since the Lok Sabha polls because of defection by TMC councillors were lost after they returned to the ruling party.

“The TMC is silently enjoying while we are becoming a laughing stock,” another BJP leader, who is involved in expanding the party in one of the tribal belts, said on condition of anonymity.

Among the TMC leaders mentioned at the BJP session was Labhpur MLA from Birbhum district, Manirul Islam. Islam, along with former MLA Gadadhar Hazra, had joined the BJP in the presence of Vijayvargiya and national executive member Mukul Roy in New Delhi on May 29.

Also read: Will win at least 200 seats: Bengal BJP chief

This happened a day after three Bengal MLAs, including Roy’s son Subhrangshu and some civic body councillors, joined the BJP. Vijayvargiya gave credit to Roy for the exodus. Roy used to be the TMC’s general secretary and a close aide of chief minister Mamata Banerjee before switching over to the BJP.

Islam is an accused in several criminal cases and attacks on BJP supporters. In 2014, he said at a public meeting that he would crush the BJP under his feet. His induction caused major grievance among BJP workers and leaders in Kolkata and Birbhum district.

“Addressing the session, Roy said he did not want to hurt anybody’s sentiment and would keep these issues in mind when TMC leaders approach him in future,” the BJP leader mentioned above said.

Incidentally, the articles in Swastika raised critical questions about Roy’s role.

While the chintan baithak was being held behind closed doors, the differences over induction took an ugly turn on the last day of the session when two groups of BJP workers clashed over unconfirmed reports that the son of a local TMC MLA might join the opposition party.

The workers had assembled to attend a public rally. The venue of the rally was ransacked and plastic chairs hired for the meeting were broken at random. Senior BJP leaders had to intervene to bring the situation under control.

Roy was not available for comment.

Last week, BJP’s state unit president Dilip Ghosh conceded that the party had to fish outside for experienced leaders to boost its strength.

“We need experienced leaders in Bengal. To increase our strength in the state we have to get leaders from the parties we are fighting against. But we will monitor their activities,” Ghosh had said at a press conference in Kolkata on August 14.