The new entrants to the party, basking in the glory of their leader Narendra Modi, have been in hurry to take complete control of the organization before next year’s assembly elections. The importance being accorded to the turncoats by the national leadership has simply given rise of mistrust and despondency among the old timers. Grouse over growing importance of turncoats in party is so acute that a major section of the old timers have preferred to maintain a passive approach towards the functioning of the party.

The BJP was never a political force in the state. Baring a small bunch of RSS activists, the party had a couple of hundred old Jana Sanghis as its members. It was with the joining of the erstwhile Marxist activists that the party had a visible presence in the state. Incidentally the old timers were considerate of their presence and accepted them as members even after being aware that most of them had become members not being lured by the ideology but to settle their personal scores and interests.

But the situation inside the party turned foreboding with a large number of TMC activists joining the party in the wake of entry of Mukul Roy former second in command of the TMC. These people do not adhere to the functional ethics of the party. In fact a majority of the old-timers are unhappy with the inclusion of these TMC turncoats in the reconstituted state committee and in other organisational wings.

“Our national leaders want us to face the Assembly polls under the leadership of some people who don’t even align with our ideologies and it’s sad,” is the common refrain of the old timers. Some old leaders have started expressing their discontent openly in the BJP state headquarters. A feeling has gripped the rank and file and even the old leaders that the party intends to expand its organisational base in the state by engineering defections in TMC, Congress and CPI(M).

With neutral youths and people reluctant to join the party the national leadership is fiercely dependent on these people for its growth in the state. However the old leaders are sceptical of nature and character of their allegiance. They fear that after some time these elements may desert the party.

They allege that after the recent reshuffle the turncoats from TMC, CPI(M) and Congress have come to occupy key posts in the apex bodies of the state party. The turncoats are using the opportunity for their political ascendance. The old leaders nurse the view that just ahead of the assembly elections a large number of such turncoats would join the BJP. These old leaders point that some of these elements who have been offered coveted posts have been simply working as the middlemen in their previous parties. Even some of them got the office just within a couple of months of their switching over tp the BJP.

These old leaders also reveal that most of the TMC leaders who have joined the BJP were rejected by the committee set up some time back by election strategist Prashant Kishor to review the functioning of the party. It is said that Dilip Ghosh, the party’s state president, has been working on the formula to weaken the TMC by winning over its cadres and leaders instead of building a mass movement against Mamata. The old leaders also nurse the belief that the Trinamool members have joined the party either for political gains or getting police protection.

Mamata Banerjee conscious of the impending threat has started operation clean up from the grass root. Her first priority is to send a strong message that she does not like corrupts and they have no place in the party. In fact even Amit Shah had been trying to send the message that corrupts thrive in the TMC. For her clean up drive she had chosen the disbursement of the Amphan fund to the victims. It was alleged that some TMC leaders had usurped the fund. In fact a rigorous verification launched at her directive has revealed only 48,219 of nearly 1 lakh claimants in Midnapore to the state’s Rs 20,000 dole were bona fide.

Close scrutiny of lists of Amphan compensation beneficiaries in East Midnapore district has helped the government save around Rs 100 crore.

The Governor, Dhankar has been critical of the siphoning of the fund and the issue was even raised by the BJP, CPM, and Congress leaders before the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) that was surveying the areas hit Amphan, and asked it to ensure that money meant for relief and restoration projects gets properly utilised.

In an astute move to take out the wind out of the opposition sail Mamata launched an initiative through her flagship “Didi ke bolo” platform. Hundreds of complaints were received. The West Bengal government issued show-cause notices to a number of block development officers (BDOs) and TMC also expelled some party leaders which included even panchayat pradhans for alleged irregularities in Amphan relief distribution.

Mamata successfully created the situation where in people came to believe that irregularities in distribution of relief to cyclone victims by the panchayats had become a major concern for her and she was out to punish them. The ruling TMC also expelled the pradhan (president) of Garalgacha panchayat in Hoogly district for alleged nepotism in Amphan relief distribution.

Though the chief minister had warned the party functionaries against misappropriation and nepotism in relief distribution, some district level leaders continued with the menace nursing the impression that Mamata will not take any significant action.

But Mamata had become conscious of the impending threat only after the peasants of Nandigram hit the streets and observed bandh. It is worth mentioning that the movement launched by the peasants of Nandigram was instrumental in ouster of the Left Front government and installing Mamata government. She Mamata knew about the potential of this nature of movement should refrained from being a passive spectator.

Her move was to primarily redeem TMC image following protests, especially in Nandigram, against Trinamool functionaries for allegedly swindling the state’s compensation meant for those whose homes had been damaged in the May 20 cyclone. Little doubt this move of Mamata has denied the BJP leadership the opportunity to unleash a protest against her. (IPA Service)