West Bengal BJP chief and MLA from Kharagpur Sadar, Dilip Ghosh is contesting a Lok Sabha election for the first time. He is taking on Rajya Sabha MP and TMC candidate Manas Bhuniya in the Medinipur Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal.
Like the rest of his party members elsewhere in India, Ghosh has been leading a polarised campaign in West Bengal, which the BJP is trying to find inroads into. His rhetoric has often been polarising, sexist and sometimes just crass.
This year, during a Ram Navami rally he was seen carrying weapons. “If carrying weapons means breaking the code, then the weapons of the jawans and Goddess ‘Kali’ should also be taken away from their hands. People who are not man enough speak all these things,” he told IANS. He also claimed the BJP had taken up weapons to protect women.
Ghosh’s crass comments don’t stop there. When a poll panel official had removed a Ram Navami poster with his photo on it, Ghosh had said, “Had it been done in my presence, I would have removed the trousers of the poll official.” The EC slapped a showcause notice on him for this.
Political violence is not a new phenomenon in West Bengal, and plenty of incidents have been reported this election season. Earlier this week, Ghosh and Assam minister Himanta Sarma’s convoy was allegedly attacked by unknown assailants in Khejuri in Purba Medinipur. The BJP has now approached the Election Commission seeking action against the perpetrators.
Ghosh was a former in-charge of the Rashtratriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Andaman and Nicobar and had been an assistant to former RSS chief KS Sudarshan. He was named state BJP president in 2015.