New Delhi: A BJP national secretary from West Bengal, who accused leaders of the state unit for allegedly diverting funds from a Gita Path event, was removed from his central post earlier this week.
Earlier on December 24, Anupam Hazra wrote in a post on his social media account that passes for the Gita Path program at the Brigade Parade Grounds were being sold by party leaders at Rs 1,000 per head.
“Some VIP passes were made for Gita Path for some VIP people. It was given to block-level leaders of BJP to be given to some people. However, in Birbhum’s Nalhati, these cards are being sold for Rs 1,000,” he wrote as quoted by the Indian Express. He demanded an enquiry into the matter.
Two days later, home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda were in Kolkata to review preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections next year.
On Tuesday night, it was announced that Hazra has been removed from his post in the party’s central unit.
“As per the instructions of Bharatiya Janata Party National President J.P. Nadda, Anupam Hazra is relieved from the post of national secretary. This should be followed with immediate effect,” said a statement issued by BJP national general secretary Arun Singh.
During the Poush Mela in Santiniketan, Hazra set up a booth, encouraging discontented BJP members and dissatisfied workers to express their grievances, the Express reported.
Hazra has had run-ins with the party leadership both at the Trinamool Congress and the BJP.
A professor at Visva-Bharati University, he had first been elected in 2014 from the Bolpur constituency on a TMC ticket, having defeated the CPI(M) by over 2.5 lakh votes.
He had then alleged being disallowed from taking independent decisions due to the political influence of powerful party leaders from his region, the Express‘s report said.
After being expelled from the party in January 2019, he joined the BJP and got a ticket for the Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency, but lost to the TMC’s Mimi Chakraborty.
In 2020, Hazra was appointed as national secretary by the BJP’s central leadership, taking over from Rahul Sinha, the former chief of the party’s state unit.
This year, the BJP leadership reappointed Hazra as national secretary for a second consecutive term.
The developments in West Bengal come against the backdrop of turmoil in the BJP’s Karnataka unit, which is also facing allegations of corruption from within, reflecting apparent infighting between two factions.
On Tuesday, Basangouda Patil Yatnal, a BJP MLA in Karnataka, accused former BJP chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa of acquiring face masks at an inflated rate, resulting in irregularities totaling Rs 40,000 crore, according to The News Minute.
Yatnal also asserted that the Congress government was involved in trying to conceal the alleged scam.
Karnataka’s Congress chief minister Siddaramaiah urged Yatnal to submit all pertinent documents to the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission, which was investigating allegations related to the ‘40% commission’ allegations made by contractors during the previous BJP government.
Karnataka BJP general secretary P. Rajeev on Wednesday said the party had taken note of certain recent developments and would not tolerate any activities that cause damage to its dignity.
“Indoor discussions cannot be disclosed. What I can say is that the party will not tolerate any activities that cause damage to its dignity. Serious discussions have happened within four walls, and our central leadership will take an appropriate decision at an appropriate time,” Rajeev told reporters in Bengaluru.