BJP suspends Diamond Harbour parliamentary candidate for protesting against central team

The BJP has issued a notice of hearing and temporarily suspended Abhijit Das (Bobby), the defeated BJP candidate for the parliamentary seat in Diamond Harbour where Abhishek Banerjee won. The decision came after the BJP’s investigation team faced protests in Diamond Harbour.

This team, led by former Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb, was in West Bengal to investigate the post-election violence. On Tuesday, some sacked BJP workers protested against the party leadership in Diamond Harbour, causing discomfort to the state BJP.

Abhijit Das, a veteran BJP worker in South 24-Parganas who has contested several elections under the party’s symbol, has been accused of absenteeism at an important meeting, denying victims of post-poll violence from attending the meeting, surrounding the central leadership of party workers, making unethical comments and creating unrest at the district office. BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar has issued a show cause notice to Abhijit through party disciplinary committee chairman Pratap Banerjee, demanding an explanation within seven days and stating that he is temporarily suspended till further orders.

Within the BJP, some insiders claimed that the problems began on the day of the seventh round of voting in Diamond Harbour, when opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari demanded re-election at around 400 polling stations in Falta. However, the BJP state leaders did not heed this demand, leaving Abhijit dissatisfied. Moreover, Abhijit had repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the activities of BJP district president Abhijit Sardar and with financial problems. These grievances seemed to culminate in Tuesday’s events, when central leaders visited Amtala to investigate the post-poll violence but reportedly did not meet the displaced workers who had taken shelter in Abhijit’s house.

Some of these sacked workers then blocked Biplab’s car to express their anger. Despite this, the central team reportedly did not visit the accommodation, which led to further protests in which some of the sacked workers cordoned off the local BJP office.

Abhijit Das said, “I have not received any letter yet, either through email or in person. I will reply as soon as I receive the letter.” Notably, Abhijit had attended the meeting at the BJP’s Salt Lake City office to discuss the post-poll violence.