2 BJP defectors served show-cause as party tries to hold flock together

Kolkata/Siliguri: The BJP legislature party served a show-cause on Tanmoy Ghosh and Biswajit Das, the BJP MLAs who switched to Trinamool Congress over the last two days, bringing down the effective BJP tally in the assembly to 72. The show-cause states that zero response within a week would be taken as defection.

On Wednesday, leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari announced the party’s stand of taking defection cases to a “conclusive end” in an attempt to check erosion in the BJP family. He cited a Supreme Court ruling on the Manipur assembly in which the apex court directed the assembly speaker to pass his orders on defections within three months.

“As many as 50 MLAs crossed floors in the last 10 years in the West Bengal assembly. Even MLAs crossed floors during voting for the Rajya Sabha polls, in which the procedure is to cast open ballots. Yet parties didn’t pursue complaints against the defectors effectively. We will take this to conclusion,” Adhikari said. He added that his party attended three hearings in the Speaker’s chamber over the defection complaint against Mukul Roy.

Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh and Adhikari were busy holding meetings with party MLAs and MPs on Wednesday to ensure that party MLAs in the Bongaon belt stay with them. Even the meeting of north Bengal MLAs and MPs called by BJP national spokesperson and Darjeeling MP Raju Bista and junior Union minister John Barla on the region’s overall development turned out to be a headcount of absentees.

At the north Bengal meeting, 5 MLAs of the total 29 — Gopal Saha from Malda, Manoj Oraon from Kumargram, Ashok Lahiri from Balurghat, Satyendranath Roy from Gangarampur and Joel Murmu from Habibpur — were absent, fuelling rumours that a BJP MLA from Dakshin Dinajpur might join Trinamool.

Ghosh, however, said that many MLAs were very much with the party. “Ganesh Saha is our party leader in Malda. Joel Murmu and Satyen Roy held meetings with us today,” he said and added that most MLAs, barring “one or two”, swore by BJP.

Taking the cue, Adhikari said that Bishnupur MLA Tanmoy Ghosh joined Trinamool to protect his “liquor and rice procurement” business while Biswajit Das was “not in sync” with the party and the legislative wing from the outset. “Those who went to Raj Bhavan against Mukul Roy’s appointment as Public Accounts Committee chairman are all with us,” Adhikari said.

Ghosh likened Bengal politics to the “ebb and flow” in the Ganga. “There had been a time when people from across parties were eager to join BJP, hoping the party would come to power. Now there is a reverse flow. Who knows the trend might change within months,” he said.