Many Petals Of The Lotus

The other men who could be eyeing the post of chief minister

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has visited West Bengal five times in the past one year. Even at the peak of the pandemic, he visited Kolkata twice and held meetings with his pracharaks.

Apparently, the RSS feels that, of the states going to the polls this year, Bengal needs its attention the most. The BJP will go into the Assam elections with incumbent Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal; the party is well settled there. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and in the Union Territory of Puducherry, the BJP’s chances are slim. Hence, the many visits to Bengal.

Bhagwat’s message to his workers was simple—RSS pracharaks should not meddle with the BJP’s internal affairs. They should instead coordinate with two men at the state level if they have any grievance —state general secretary (organisation) Amitava Chakravorty and state party president Dilip Ghosh.

Chakravorty, the link between the RSS and the BJP in Bengal, was appointed to the post a few months ago. He was a trusted lieutenant of Home Minister Amit Shah and had held the same post in Odisha. The man he replaced, Subrata Chatterjee, was part of the old guard and was not happy that defectors from the Trinamool Congress were getting plum posts in his party. Bhagwat, who did not agree with Chatterjee’s way of thinking, intervened for his replacement.

Given its influence in such key decisions, would the RSS accept a non-Sangh leader as chief minister if the BJP routs the Trinamool in the upcoming state elections?