It’s a polarisation between nationalists and anti-nationals: Dilip Ghosh, BJP’s Bengal unit president

Dilip Ghosh, BJP’s Bengal unit president, is behind the party’s resurgence in the state. Excerpts:

The assembly by-poll shows a vote shift to BJP, though the party is in a nascent stage in many parts. How do you explain it?
People fear that Bengal would soon be dominated by Muslims. It would become another Bangladesh or Pakistan if BJP does not intervene. We are now successful in convincing people of this. The chief minister’s appeasement policies have impacted the Hindus adversely. The government has always moved in an anti-Hindu way. We have started gaining people’s confidence. There is another factor working in our favour. The CPM has been reduced to a jhanda party. People have lost all faith in Left politics. So the anti-TMC votes are coming to us.

Are you sure of a consolidation of Hindu votes? While you wanted to take this line, the central leadership was not convinced.
Hindu votes have to be consolidated or we will lose Bengal to Bangladesh. It’s a pragmatic decision. For a long time, we were trying to build on many issues, but it worked only when we opted for a consolidation of votes.

Mamata says the BJP is polarising Bengal on the basis of religion. How far is this true?
Yes, we are polarising people, but not between Hindu and Muslim. This is a polarisation between nationalists and anti-nationals. We have no grudge against Muslims. The BJP is for all Indians. We welcome Muslim participation in our party and many Muslims with nationalism are joining us. We have problems with infiltrators and jihadis. We are also contemplating to get Muslim leaders in senior ranks.