Form of words:
Kolkata: Bharti Ghosh, a former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who was once so fond of West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) President Mamata Banerjee that she called her “Ma”, was on Sunday named the BJP’s national spokesperson. .
The two women parted ways after Mukul Roy, the then national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress, joined the BJP four years ago.
Ghosh was known to be close to Roy and soon after his defection, he took voluntary retirement in December 2017 for “personal reasons”. He was removed from the post of Superintendent of Police of the Naxal violence-hit West Midnapore district. For a less prestigious posting as Commandant of the 3rd Battalion of the Armed Police Forces of the State. Soon more serious problems arose.
In 2018, multiple charges were leveled against Ghosh, who currently faces at least 19 counts, including attempt to murder, rioting, leaking official documents and possessing disproportionate assets.
In February 2019, Ghosh joined the BJP, in a decision that he described According to some news reports, as “revenge” against TMC. While Mukul Roy has returned to the TMC, Ghosh’s promotion as national spokesperson shows that the BJP is keen to retain him.
BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh confirmed this to ThePrint. “Bharti is a fighter… we will train him for future posts,” he said.
Read also: Supreme Court’s relief to Bengal BJP candidate Bharti Ghosh, said- stay on arrest warrant
From Applause to ‘Police Case’
Bharti Ghosh, who is 59, has her impressive academic credentials, including an LLB from the University of Burdwan and a diploma from Harvard, and a career that includes a stint in a UN peacekeeping mission.
In August 2014, he won a medal for meritorious service from Mamata Banerjee, but returned it after his relations with the Trinamool chief soured.
In February 2018, two months after his resignation from the service, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) raided Ghosh’s house in south Kolkata. The CID allegedly confiscated Around 39 liters of imported liquor and his house was sealed. After this, Ghosh started speaking publicly against the Trinamool Congress. accuse Registering “fake cases” against him to prevent him from joining any political party.
Exactly a year later, Ghosh joined the BJP in Delhi in the presence of the party’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya. In the same year, Ghosh contested the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket from Ghatal in West Midnapore, but lost to TMC candidate Deepak Adhikari alias Dev. Despite her electoral defeat by a margin of over 1 lakh votes, Ghosh continued to rise to prominence in the Bengal unit of the BJP, and was named as the party’s state vice-president.
Earlier this year, Ghosh contested the assembly election from Debra constituency in West Midnapore against TMC candidate Humayun Kabir, who is also a former IPS officer. Ghosh lost to Kabir by nearly 11,000 votes, but once again this did not stop her rise in the ranks, and she was made the party’s national spokesperson in November.
According to his election affidavit, Ghosh has 19 criminal cases against him, including attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, rioting, criminal breach of trust, cheating and theft. Speaking to The Print, a senior CID official said, out of the 19 cases, six were “very serious”.
“We got an arrest warrant issued, but it got a stay from the Supreme Court. The investigation is on, but the cases are still under consideration,” the official said.
BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh, however, indicated that the former IPS officer was being harassed. “We are trying to bring strong and young people on top of the affairs, Bharti is a fighter. She joined us in 2019, and has been fighting all atrocities against herself and her family ever since. She never bows down. We will train him for future positions,” he told ThePrint.
Read also: Mamata Banerjee and her IPS officer – 9 joined Trinamool in 10 years, had 4 ministers
‘Probable’ winner for Bengal BJP
A senior BJP leader, who is also a member of the party’s national executive, said the BJP is keen to retain defectors and former Trinamool Congress allies.
“Most of the Trinamool defectors who joined the BJP before and after the 2019 elections and before the 2021 elections have returned to the Trinamool. Bharti was never formally a member of the Trinamool, but was close to the party. In addition, she was close to Mukul Roy, who again joined the Trinamool,” the leader said. “So, we are trying to retain those of them who have some potential. Bharti is one of them.”
Another senior BJP leader said that though Ghosh lost the election, “his campaign was full of action…she is someone who speaks her mind and people listen to her”.
The leader said the purpose of Ghosh’s post as national spokesperson was to send an important message. “The central leadership wants to focus on West Bengal and having him as the national spokesperson will help send the message that the party has not left West Bengal after its defeat.”
The BJP’s continued focus on West Bengal is evident from the appointment of former party state president Dilip Ghosh as the national vice-president in September this year. “It has become more imperative for TMC to focus on West Bengal after several MLAs and leaders quit the BJP. The party wants to send the message that Bengal is important in its plans,” said another BJP leader.
Political violence in West Bengal is also included in the resolution passed at the BJP’s national executive meeting earlier this November.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the party “strongly condemns” the post-poll violence in Bengal and will stand with every BJP worker who is suffering. At the national executive meeting, the party also highlighted that despite losing to the Trinamool Congress in the assembly elections, the BJP’s vote share increased to 38 per cent (from around 10 per cent in the 2016 state elections).
Another BJP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party wants to groom women leaders to take on Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal. The growing importance of Bharti Ghosh in the party can also be gauged from the fact that she was given a place in the national executive of the party. “Besides them, five more leaders from West Bengal were inducted. This indicates that the party wants state politics to be conducted by state leaders,” said another leader.
(Edited by Aswari Singh)
Read also: BJP now has tremendous opposition in Bengal, will keep an eye on Mamta’s politics
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