'Old is gold': Dilip Ghosh's cryptic message amid disgruntlement in Bengal BJP

Kolkata: After questioning the rationale behind relocating established leaders like him from winnable constituencies to challenging electoral battlegrounds, senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh on Saturday put out a social media post, sparking speculations of 'old versus new' debate in the party's West Bengal unit.

In a cryptic message, Ghosh posted on X, "Old is Gold." Ghosh had earlier said that it was mistake by the party to sideline old guards and the poll debacle was waiting to happen as newcomers and inexperienced leaders were calling the shots.

BJP's Lok Sabha tally in the state dipped to 12 in this election from 18 in 2019, when Ghosh was the BJP state president. The saffron party had targeted to win 30 of the 42 seats this time.

Ghosh was defeated at the hands of TMC's Kirti Azad by nearly 1.38 lakh votes in the Bardhaman-Durgapur seat.

Ghosh had earlier said that it was now established that sending him to contest from his old constituency of Medinipur to a fresh one "was a mistake".

He was relocated from his winning seat of Medinipur to Bardhaman-Durgapur, a seat where the battle against the TMC was perceptively tough.

Ghosh replaced sitting MP SS Ahluwalia in Bardhaman-Durgapur. Ahluwalia, in turn, was moved to Asansol. The party's sitting MLA from Asansol Dakshin seat, Agnimitra Paul, replaced Ghosh in Medinipur.

All the three BJP candidates were trounced by their TMC counterparts in the recently concluded elections.

On Friday, Ghosh questioned the choices made by the state BJP leadership, particularly in relocating experienced leaders like him and former Union MoS Debasree Choudhury from their constituencies to unfamiliar ones.