Kolkata, July 20 (IANS) Bringing an end to all speculations of his joining Trinamool Congress on the Martyrs' Day rally in central Kolkata on July 21, BJP’s former national vice-president and state president in West Bengal, Dilip Ghosh, on Sunday, announced that he would be attending a BJP programme.
The programme at Kharagpur, christened “Shahid Shraddhajanjali Sabha” (tribute to Martyrs' program), is perceived as a counter to the Trinamool Congress annual Martyrs' Day rally in Kolkata on the same day.
Incidentally, the BJP will also be organising a similar rally at Siliguri of Darjeeling district in North Bengal on Monday against the rising incidents of crime against women in West Bengal, which is also perceived to be a counter-rally to the Trinamool Congress’s annual Martyrs' Day rally.
At the Siliguri rally, the principal speaker will be the West Bengal Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari.
Ghosh told media persons that Shahid Shraddhajanjali Sabha at Kharagpur on Monday will be commemorating the BJP workers killed allegedly at the hands of goons backed by the ruling Trinamool Congress since the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls.
“More than 250 BJP workers were killed by Trinamool Congress-backed goons in West Bengal since the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections. We will pay tribute to them at the Kharagpur meeting on Monday." Ghosh said.
He claimed that the BJP is the only political party in West Bengal that remembers the real martyrs.
"Our workers gave their lives in the political struggle," Ghosh added.
The development comes against the backdrop of a lot of speculation over the last few days that Ghosh will be seen with Trinamool Congress leaders on July 21 at the Martyrs' Day rally in Kolkata.
The speculations gained further ground as he skipped Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political rally at Durgapur on July 18 and instead left for New Delhi to meet the BJP’s president, J.P. Nadda.
During his meeting with Nadda, the latter reportedly asked Ghosh to start a strong fight by returning to the state.
Ghosh, also a former Lok Sabha member, attracted the ire of the state leadership after he attended the inauguration ceremony of Lord Jagannath Temple at Dish in East Midnapore district along with his newly-wedded wife in May this year, much to the disliking of the party leadership.
After videos of his cordial interaction with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee within the temple premises went viral, several BJP supporters criticised Ghosh over the development on social media, which posed embarrassment for the state party leadership.
--IANS
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