West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Friday admitted that his party lacks sufficient leaders to many Lok Sabha seats from the state but its "door is "wide open" for the leaders from other outfits who want to work with them.
"It is true to that our state unit do not have sufficient leaders who can win the parliamentary elections here. That's we are taking leaders from other parties. Those who want to come and work under our party's fold and be a part of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji's development are welcome. Our party's door is wide open for them," he said at the Bharaatiya Janata Party state party headquarters here.
"Leaders from opposition parties are joining us thick and fast. The number will increase exponentially in coming days. Our candidate list for Lok Sabha polls will be declared in a few days. You will see how we counter-attack," he claimed.
His comments came a day after ruling Trinamool Congress legislator Arjun Singh joined the BJP.
A number of leaders from the other parties including Soumitra Khan and Anupam Hazra from the Trinamool, Khagen Murmu of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and Dulal Bar of the Congress have joined the saffron outfit in recent weeks.
Ghosh said the party has received over 350 applications from Bengal for contesting the Lok Sabha polls on the BJP ticket.
"Also close to 50 of our party leaders are potential candidates. So there are over 400 names. We will sort out three-four names for every seat and send it to party's parliamentary board. The final decision will be taken by them," he said.
More From This Section
"Every election has a certain stature. So the leaders of that stature will be given a chance to contest in the Lok Sabha polls and represent us in the parliament," he said.
Taking a swipe at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for questioning the BJP's demand to declare Bengal as a "super-sensitive state", Ghosh claimed Banerjee and her party are opposing Central forces as they won't be able to rig the votes.
"When she was in the opposition in 2009, she demanded the same thing. We have a copy of her letter to the EC. But now she does not want that as it has become her habit to win elections by rigging the votes," the BJP leader alleged.
"If all the booths in Bengal are declared as sensitive, Banerjee might boycott the elections. She is now scared of people's verdict," he said, claiming that was the reason why elections to two corporations and 15 municipalities have been postponed.
Giving a detailed account of the funds provided by the Narendra Modi government to Bengal under various central welfare schemes, Ghosh said Banerjee's claims of not getting any aid from the centre is "complete falsehood".
--IANS
mgr/vd