West Bengal: BJP rift widens as ex-state chief dropped from PM rally guest list

In a fresh sign of deepening rifts within the West Bengal BJP, former state president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday said he would not attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mega rally in Durgapur, bluntly stating that he was "not invited".

Modi will visit the state on Friday, and address a BJP rally in Durgapur, besides unveiling multiple development projects worth over Rs 5,000 crore. The conspicuous exclusion of Ghosh — once the face of the BJP's aggressive Bengal campaign — from a key political event has again put the spotlight on the party's alleged simmering factionalism and raised questions over whether the state unit's recent show of unity was more optics than reality.

"I am not going as I have not been invited. As per my understanding, the invitations have been sent according to zones. So when Modiji comes to the Kolkata zone, I believe I will be invited then," Ghosh told PTI.

The PM's Durgapur rally on Friday, billed as a major political event ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, will be attended by top state leaders. However, Ghosh, a former Medinipur Lok Sabha MP, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from the Durgapur-Bardhaman constituency, has been kept out.

When contacted, a senior state BJP functionary confirmed that Ghosh was not on the guest list. "Only leaders from the Durgapur-Bardhaman zone were invited. He will be invited when a rally is held in the Kolkata zone. Former state president Rahul Sinha has also not been invited this time," the leader said, requesting anonymity.

Our rapists vs. your rapists: BJP and Trinamool slugfest in West Bengal

However, the conspicuous absence of Ghosh from a key event is being viewed as more than just a technical oversight, political observers said.

Party insiders admit that despite a recent public show of unity between Ghosh and new state president Samik Bhattacharya, all is not entirely well within the Bengal BJP's higher echelons.

Last week, Bhattacharya had pulled off a key political optic by holding a one-to-one meeting with Ghosh at the party's Salt Lake office, with the two leaders hugging in full public view in an attempt to silence buzz about internal factionalism and possible desertion.

But Ghosh's exclusion from the PM's rally now threatens to unravel the tenuous peace, fuelling talks that the former state chief is still not entirely in the loop despite being one of the BJP's most recognisable faces in Bengal and considered one of its most successful presidents.

His recent public engagements, including attending a state government programme in Digha alongside his wife, had already raised eyebrows within the party. At the time, many leaders had accused him of showing undue deference to the ruling Trinamool Congress, triggering speculation that he was drifting away from the saffron camp.

Though Ghosh has repeatedly denied any plans of quitting the BJP, his sarcastic responses to queries, including his now-viral "jol nei, ponao nei (no water, no fish)" remark on political speculation, have only deepened the intrigue.

With the 2026 Assembly polls on the horizon and the BJP still reeling from its Lok Sabha losses in Bengal, Thursday's episode again highlights the challenges facing Bhattacharya as he seeks to unify a divided house.