By PTI
KOLKATA: West Bengal BJP vice-president Arjun Singh on Friday slammed the state leadership for “not allowing him to work properly”, despite holding a senior position in the organization.
Singh’s comment comes a day after the Union government announced its decision to withdraw the notification capping jute prices at Rs 6,500 per quintal, a demand he and other industry stakeholders have been pressing for in the last few weeks.
“I met our national president J P Nadda Ji recently and told him about the situation in the state BJP. Dedicated workers are not given their due recognition. Despite being the state vice-president, I am not allowed to work properly,” Singh, who switched over to the BJP from the TMC in 2019, said.
Asked if he had plans to leave the party, Singh evaded a direct reply.
He, however, said cryptically that there is no such thing as “final word” in politics.
“Those who don’t understand anything about the organization are giving sermons. I have told Nadda Ji everything. Let’s see what happens. The party has given us a chair, but it doesn’t have legs. The party has given us a pen but it doesn’t have ink,” he added.
The state BJP, however, was cautious in its reaction.
“Arjun Singh is an important leader of our party. He is and will remain in our party,” BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya asserted.
Around six months after the price of raw jute was capped at Rs 6,500 per quintal, which allegedly led to a crisis in the industry, the Union government on Thursday decided to withdraw the limit from May 20, according to a notification.
Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal for the move, Singh, who represents the Barrackpore’s industrial belt in Lok Sabha, tweeted that it is a “big victory” for lakhs of farmers and workers.
The state BJP unit had been fighting hard to keep its flock together after former union minister Babul Supriyo and five legislators, including its national vice president Mukul Roy, switched over to the TMC, following the party’s drubbing in Assembly polls.
