Krishnanagar/Ranaghat, March 26: Former Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday escalated his party colleague Suvendu Adhikari’s polarisation pitch, staunchly defending the leader of the Opposition’s anti-Muslim rhetoric. While Adhikari’s remarks have drawn unease from some within the BJP, Ghosh dismissed concerns, instead accusing the Trinamool Congress’s Muslim MLAs of provoking such statements.
Speaking to reporters during a tea-table meeting in Krishnanagar, Ghosh lashed out at the Bengal government for failing to act against ruling party MLAs who, he claimed, continue to target the “majority” community. His remarks coincided with the BJP Minority Cell’s launch of Saugat-e-Modi, a nationwide Eid outreach initiative distributing gifts through 32 lakh mosques to gain the community’s trust.
As part of this campaign, 32 lakh Minority Morcha workers will contact an equal number of mosques to distribute special kits containing food items, clothes, vermicelli, dates, dry fruits, and sugar. The program was inaugurated in Delhi by BJP national president JP Nadda.
When asked about Adhikari’s increasingly communal remarks, which have embarrassed sections of the party, Ghosh defended him, arguing that his words were merely a “reaction” to statements made by certain Muslim MLAs. “The way some Muslim MLAs and MPs have been threatening BJP leaders, talking about conversion, and even saying they will throw them into the river, such a reaction (from Suvendu Adhikar) is quite natural,” Ghosh asserted. Alleging that Trinamool would retaliate if BJP leaders made similar remarks, he added, “If our party leaders had made such threats, Trinamool would have responded in the same manner. That is why such a response was delivered.” He reiterated the “action and reaction theory,” stating, “It has become an obvious action and reaction.”
Categorically supporting Adhikari, Ghosh also blamed the state government for its reluctance to take legal action against ruling party leaders allegedly spreading communal venom. “It is the responsibility of the state government to control its people, and we will also control ours,” he said.
Once seen as avowedly secular under Mamata Banerjee in the Trinamool Congress, Adhikari has increasingly embraced communal rhetoric since joining the BJP in December 2020, a shift that has become more pronounced after the party’s disappointing performance in Bengal, securing only 12 of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats.
The latest controversy erupted after Adhikari threatened to “throw out” Muslim MLAs if the BJP came to power in Bengal in 2026. His remark prompted a sharp response from Murshidabad MLA Humayun Kabir, who warned of retaliation.
Privately, several factions within Bengal BJP’s deeply divided leadership have admitted discomfort over Adhikari’s vitriol against Muslims, who form a third of the state’s population. However, given the BJP’s ideological stance, sections within the party, including Ghosh, have openly endorsed Adhikari’s hardline approach. Ghosh’s backing comes after he met Adhikari earlier this week at the assembly.
Meanwhile, on the same day, Ghosh extended his verbal attacks to a section of women who had protested against him in Kharagpur last week. He invoked the mythological demoness Putana to refer to those women, apparently belonging to Trinamool Congress, saying, “I will worship Sita and Draupadi, but not Putana,” and added, “I chased a few Putanas that day. I said I will drive my car over their chest.”
Speaking at a tea session with party workers in Nadia’s Gangnapur, he elaborated, “We have made Sita and Draupadi to offer place in the mother’s seat. We will make Sita sit in the mother’s seat, not the Putana. We will drive the car over the chest of these Putanas because they have come disguised as mothers. Shri Krishna understood this when he was only six days old….But I have turned 60.”
Putana, a demoness from the Mahabharata, was sent by Kamsa to kill infant Krishna but was ultimately killed by him after attempting to poison him with her milk.
A senior BJP state committee leader, speaking anonymously, admitted that while Adhikari’s statements had already caused embarrassment, Ghosh’s comments would only worsen the situation. “This will hurt us in the elections unless the top leadership intervenes immediately to restrain both the leaders,” he said.