After Dada debacle Bengal BJP pins hopes on Mithun da

Earlier this week, the West Bengal unit of the BJP announced its core committee members and the actor-turned-politician was included in the list.

After the great expectations of the West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party to woo ‘Dada’ (Sourav Ganguly) failed and proved to be a difficult catch, the party has turned to “Mithun da’ (Mithun Chakraborty) and pinned its hope on the veteran actor to attract Bengal voters.

Earlier this week, the West Bengal unit of the BJP announced its core committee members and the actor-turned-politician was included in the list. Among the 20 core committee members, 72-year-old Chakraborty is the only person who did not contest the Assembly polls, but has star appeal and is known across the State. 

The list has names of State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari, a number of party MPs and MLAs from the State and also Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta. Sources in the BJP pointed out that the committee list was ratified by party president J.P. Nadda and is indicative of assigning more political responsibility to the actor.

Mr. Chakraborty had joined the BJP in March 2021 amid much-fanfare during a rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata after resigning as Rajya Sabha MP of Trinamool Congress in 2016. However, he remained in good books of Trinamool as in 2017, Ms. Banerjee honoured Mr. Chakraborty with ‘Mahanayak Samman’ (an honour by the West Bengal government in the legendary matinee icon Uttam Kumar). When the investigation of the chit fund scams was at its peak in the State, Mr. Chakraborty was also questioned by central investigation agencies as he had promoted these companies in the “capacity of an star actor”. Prior to this, Mr. Chakraborty was also close to the Left parties when the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front was in power.

Mr. Chakraborty became a hit in the BJP on the very day he joined the party. Dialogues from his Bengali films, “ Marbo ekhane, laash porbe shoshane (I’ll strike you here and the body will land straight at the crematorium)” and “A mi ekta cobra, ek chobol-ei chobi (I am a cobra that can kill you in one strike)” made him a much sought after campaigner across the length and breadth of the State during the 2021 Assembly polls. A police complaint was also lodged against him for the remarks but the Calcutta High Court quashed proceedings against him) 

The inclusion of Mr. Chakraborty in the core committee comes at a time when the party is preparing for panchayat elections scheduled in early 2023. The BJP has lost all the bypolls after the 2021 Assembly debacle. Mr. Chakraborty is the only star who has not returned to the Trinamool and has remained with the BJP when a number of personalities from Bengali film industries have tried to mend fences with the State’s ruling dispensation. 

In fact, some in the BJP feel that Mr. Chakraborty can match the skills of Mukul Roy, who re-joined the Trinamool a month after he won the Assembly polls on a BJP ticket. After the 2021 polls, Mr. Chakraborty has addressed only a few press conferences at the BJP party office. In these interactions, his remarks that he is in touch with dozens of MLAs of the ruling camp, who will soon defect to the BJP, created a flutter.