West Bengal: BJP Stalwarts Mukul Roy, Rajib Banerjee Missing From Crucial Party Meet

Mukul Roy could not make it as his wife is not well, while Rajib Banerjee could not attend the meeting due to personal reasons.

Kolkata: The West Bengal BJP on Tuesday held a high-powered organizational meeting of its office bearers in Kolkata. This meeting, after the loss in state assembly elections last month, saw absence of several prominent faces of the party. 

However, the absence of heavyweight leaders like Mukul Roy and Rajib Banerjee is being remarked upon.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh was quick to assert that the senior leaders’ absence at the meeting was not a matter of concern. He clarified that BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy could not make it as his wife is not well, while spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya's father has passed away. TMC minister-turned-BJP leader Rajib Banerjee could not attend the meeting due to personal reasons.

Rajib, who was the forest minister in the previous Mamata Banerjee government before switching to the BJP in January 2021 ahead of state assembly polls, is allegedly flying under the radar for the last few weeks. His absence has only added fuel to the fire of speculations that he might switch sides.

Last weekend, Mukul Roy’s son Subhrangshu Roy had to thank chief minister Mamata Banerjee for reaching out to his family in their “hour of need" on a Facebook post. Roy himself was a founder-member of the TMC before quitting the fold in 2017 and rising to prominence in the saffron party. 

On the sidelines of the meeting, BJP leader Rajib Banerjee took Twitter to say that imposing the president’s rule in Bengal, amplified in response to incidents of post-poll violence, would be going against the people’s mandate.

"Enough with the criticism. The people elected the government with a majority, they will not take it well if the threat of Section 365 is constantly dangled to oppose the chief minister," the BJP leader tweeted.

At a time when Bengal BJP is busy with its organizational meet, West Bengal assembly Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, was in a meeting at Delhi with the top brass like home minister Amit Shah and national president JP Nadda to discuss various issues concerning the state. 

Mukul Roy has however said that he was not informed about this meeting and could not be present due to personal reasons. 

The absence of top leaders speaks volumes of their possible next plan of action.