Rejecting speculations of joining the TMC, former West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday said he went to the newly-built Jagannath temple in Digha on the day of its consecration as he was officially invited by the government and his party did not bar anyone from visiting it.
Ghosh, along with his newly-married wife Rinku Majumdar, visited the temple, built by the TMC government, on Wednesday and met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, triggering speculations that he may jump ship ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
"Our party did not ask us to skip the invitation. I have been invited, and that is the reason I have come here. I have got the guts to do so," Ghosh told reporters during the morning with his wife at the Digha sea beach.
"Why do lakhs of people go to the Ram temple in Ayodhya and the Kashi Viswanath temple in Varanasi? Even Mamata Banerjee had asked her party leaders not to go to Kumbh Mela, but there were many who went. Have they committed any crime? Do you know who built the Kalighat and Dakshineswar temples? It is not important who built the temple, people go because god is worshipped there," he added.
Asked about the speculations of joining the TMC, Ghosh shot back, "Why should I?" "I am not having a bad time. I have not changed in the last 10 years, I have not changed my party like many others who switch sides whenever there is an election. Dilip Ghosh does not need to change sides," he said.
Ghosh's visit to the temple and subsequent meeting with Banerjee, a part of which was live-streamed on the CM's Facebook page, raised several eyebrows, with BJP leaders not hiding their anguish.
Sharing a photo of the meeting between Ghosh and Banerjee, senior BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta said in a post on X, "The outrage among grassroots BJP Bengal workers at this apparent betrayal by a former state president is too deafening for the national leadership to ignore." Ghosh, the former MP of Kharagpur, tackled the criticisms nonchalantly.
"People keep on talking about Dilip Ghosh. Even if they talk negatively, that works as an advertisement for me," he said.
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said the party did not endorse the visit.
"It's Dilip Ghosh's personal choice. But the party doesn't endorse the visit. Many of our MLAs were invited, but nobody visited due to the atrocities against Hindus in various places of the state," he said.
Asked about the visit, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said, "I don't want to talk about him."
