In what is being looked at a lot of embarrassment for the party, BJP West Bengal president Dilip Ghosh while interacting with newspersons at the party headquarters, on Saturday said that if any Bengali has a good chance of becoming the Prime Minister, it was Mamata Banerjee.

It being Mamata’s birthday, he extended his good wishes and said, “I wish her good health. She needs to be healthy because if any Bengali has the chance of being the Prime Minsiter, she has.”

Asked if there was no Bengali from BJP who could be the Prime Minister he said, “That might happen later but at present she has a better chance. Jyoti Basu could have become but his party leaders didn’t allow him. Pranab babu (Mukherjee) became the president and now there is a need for a Bengali Prime Minister.”

At a time when BJP is preparing to take on the ruling TMC head-on in the next Lok Sabha polls, Ghosh’s comments have led to several state party leaders refraining from making any public statements. BJP Rajya Sabha member Roopa Ganguly, however, talked to DNA saying Ghosh has done the right thing. “I watched it as a BJP state president he has said the right thing as he knows the desire. On a birthday one must wish a person with what he or she desires. She (Mamata) nurtures a dream of becoming the Prime Minister and thus I fully endorse Ghosh’s statement."

"That said I also assure that along with BJP Bengal I will combat on a political front and ensure that she fails to achieve it because she has failed to govern Bengal itself,” she said.