At a meeting in Kolkata's Science City auditorium, the West Bengal BJP's extended state working committee analysed the party's performance in this year's Lok Sabha polls and the recently-concluded assembly by-elections and drew the future roadmap.
The BJP, which had set itself a target of 30 seats, managed to win 12 in the 18th Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal which sends 42 MPs to the lower house.
In the recent assembly by-elections to four seats, the BJP failed to win any. Interestingly, three of the seats were won by the saffron party in 2021 assembly polls.
Senior leaders such as West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar, West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari, party's former state chief Dilip Ghosh, MPs, MLAs and a host of other state and district-level leaders attended the event where the chief guest was former Haryana CM and Union Minister of Power Manohar Lal Khattar.
The biggest talking point of the meeting was Adhikari's highly polarising words against the Trinamool Congress and Muslims.
He criticised the TMC for allegedly obstructing Hindu voters from casting their ballots during the Lok Sabha polls in several constituencies including Jadavpur and Kolkata Uttar.
"[The TMC] won't even let me vote in 2026 [West Bengal Assembly elections] because I am a Hindu. Fifty jihadis will be sitting in front of my house from morning and the police will be mere spectators. We will have to rise now," the TMC-turned-BJP leader said.
He continued, "[At many places] voting took place with slips instead of voting cards. Their votes were cast but they didn't have voting marks on their fingers. I met Honourable Governor C.V. Anand Bose. We want democracy back in West Bengal."
Adhikari also contradicted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's message of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Bikas'. "I used to say 'Sabka Sath Sabka Bikas'. I will not say it anymore. I will say 'Jo humare sath, hum unke sath [Those who are with us, we are with them]'."
The Nandigram MLA expressed his disappointment that the party did not perform as per expectations. But he said he will continue to work for the BJP, Sanatan Dharma and nationalism.
Soon after the meeting, Adhikari came up with a clarification on Twitter that his statement was being "taken out of context". "I embody in letter and spirit, Prime Minister's call for Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas."
Meanwhile, the BJP's extended state committee meeting on Tuesday began with the felicitation of senior leaders and the recently-elected parliamentarians before Majumdar gave the opening remarks. He claimed that despite the defeat, the BJP in West Bengal is not lost.
"Going by the numbers, our seat [in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections] may have come down from 18 to 12. But we are still as much relevant in West Bengal as earlier," he said. "In the Lok Sabha polls, we got lead in 69 municipalities for the first time. In 49 assembly segments, we are behind by less than 10 thousand votes."
Majumdar, the Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, instructed his party workers to take lessons from the defeat in the Lok Sabha polls and continue their hard work. He asked them to take inspiration from former state BJP leaders.
"Hard work never fails. We have many leaders who contested for the BJP when the party was not a major force. Their courage and hard work helped us later."
The Balurghat MP was also seen instructing the Bengal BJP to stop overtly relying on central agencies. "If we don't strengthen our organisation with hard work, then we will never win irrespective of who gets arrested."
Union Minister Khattar also acknowledged that the party had underperformed in West Bengal in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, he also reminded party workers, "The 12 seats that West Bengal has given us has a huge contribution towards national interest and towards making Narendra Modi the Prime Minister for the third time"
He remembered the BJP workers who have been killed due to alleged political violence in West Bengal and highlighted the severity of the issue.
He said, "Everywhere the BJP workers give their sweat to the party but in Bengal they have to give their bloods as well. They have to work by putting their life on the line."