Kolkata, March 7 (PTI) With bickerings in the West Bengal BJP out in the open following its civic poll rout, senior leader and MP Locket Chatterjee, who had recently called for introspection in the party, held a meeting on Monday with its suspended leaders.
The state BJP leadership had blamed alleged vote-rigging and violence for the party’s poor performance in civic polls and bypolls, but Chatterjee suggested that the top brass should ideally introspect and find out what led to the decline in its vote share, drawing wrath of some of her colleagues in the camp.
Chatterjee on Monday held a meeting with BJP leaders Ritesh Tiwari and Jaiprakash Majumdar, who were suspended in January for alleged anti-party activities, and a few others, including dissident members.
She defended her decision, stating that they are still a part of the saffron camp.
“They might have been suspended, but they are still very much a part of the BJP. Why can’t I meet other leaders of the BJP? They are senior to me. I attended a social gathering, where they were also present. So it is quite obvious that we will talk and discuss politics,” she told a news channel.
Majumder echoed Chatterjee by saying that they were “good friends”.
“Obviously when we meet, discussions on the present political situation are bound to happen,” he maintained.
BJP National Vice President Dilip Ghosh, who had a criticised Chatterjee over her take on the party’s poor show in elections, said the saffron camp does not stop anyone from meeting people he or she wishes to.
The TMC bagged 102 of the 108 municipalities that went to the polls last month. The CPI(M) and a Darjeeling-based outfit, Hamro Party, won one municipality each while four urban bodies saw a hung house.
The ruling party with 63.45 per cent of the total votes polled emerged as the undisputed leader, with CPI(M) occupying a distant second spot with 14.13 per cent of votes and the BJP a close third with 12.57 per cent votes.
The saffron party had also fared poorly in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections. PTI PNT SUS RMS RMS
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Source: The Print
