Who is going to be the CM of West Bengal if BJP wins the election? Is Mithun Chakraborty BJP’s CM candidate? The heat has been steadily rising in West Bengal, with the assembly elections set to begin on March 27, 2021. This election in West Bengal could be of utter importance to political parties across the spectrum. The last year has been very politically volatile. This election is being seen as a test of the ruling party’s policies and a testament to public opinion. Political Parties have gone all out in their campaigns. Leaders across the spectrum have launched vicious attacks on rival candidates and carried out massive rallies despite Covid curbs.
Mithun Chakraborty Joins The BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has its target set on the Bengal Assembly. This election is more important to them because West Bengal is one of the few big states yet to be governed by the BJP or its allies. The party is also going through a rough patch in its usual core states- an electoral victory here will go a long way. Therefore, it has roped in all the bigwigs of the party to put up a stellar campaign. It is going all out to take advantage of the anti-incumbency the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC, also abbreviated TMC) is facing after ten years in power under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee.
বিজেপিতে যোগদান করবার পর কি বললেন মহাগুরু মিঠুন চক্রবর্তী? শুনুন! pic.twitter.com/l6NuAB40RU
— BJP Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) March 7, 2021
To turn the public sentiment in favour of the BJP, it has roped in Bollywood Superstar Mithun Chakraborty. Fondly known as Mithun Da across the country, the actor enjoys an iconic status in his home state of West Bengal. Formerly a TMC Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, he resigned from the post and quit the party after being named in the Saradha Chit Fund Case. He is among the many politicians in Bengal who have left the TMC to join the BJP. The party is expected to benefit from his star power. This move is a strategic one to counterbalance the publicity TMC is getting by roping in many Bengali actors in its ranks.
Recent Speculations
There is now speculation that Mithun Chakraborty could very well be BJP’s Chief Minister Candidate for the assembly elections. There are many frontrunners to the CMs position- BJP State President Dilip Ghosh and TMC turncoats Suvendu Adhikari and Mukul Roy. Sources, however, say that the party could go with a fresh face for this election. Leaders from the party have been tight-lipped about Mithun Da’s involvement in the elections. In its characteristic style for assembly elections, the BJP has not announced a CM candidate yet. It is hoping to ride on PM Modi’s popularity and the publicity it will get from star campaigners and breakaway TMC leaders.
The speculations that Mithun Da will join BJP first surfaced when he met with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat at his house in Mumbai on February 16, 2021. This meeting came amid BJP’s intense campaigning in West Bengal. The actor responded to questions by saying, “I have a spiritual relationship with him (Bhagwat) and it is very deep. It had been decided before, that whenever he comes to Mumbai, he will come home. He asked me to bring my family along to Nagpur. That is all. We had breakfast together. No politics. Please don’t link it and blow it out of proportion.” This wasn’t the first meeting between the two. He had a meeting with the RSS Chief at the RSS Headquarters in Nagpur back in October 2019.
There were rumours that Mithun Da will formally join the BJP on March 7 during the Prime Minister’s rally in Kolkata. The West Bengal BJP Vice President, Arjun Singh, said before the PMs rally, “If Mithun Chakraborty comes, it will be good, both for Bengal as well as our party. If he comes on a stage where there is PM, the people of Bengal will be happier”. The BJP National Secretary and Central Observer for Bengal, Kailash Vijayvargiya, confirmed that the actor would attend the rally on March 7.
On March 7, 2021, the rumours came true at the Prime Minister’s rally at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata. Mithun Da formally joined the BJP at the rally as he shared the stage with PM Modi.
At the rally, he said, “I am a pure cobra. You will be finished in one bite. Now remember the new slogan – Ek Chhobole Chobi. (One bite and you will become a photo)”. He also expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to share the stage with the Prime Minister of the world’s democracy. He later confirmed that he would start campaigning for the BJP in the state from March 12.
खेला होबे in #Bengal
'Ami joldhorao noi, bele borao noi… ami ekta cobra, ek chobol-ei chobi''Not a harmless snake… am a pure cobra… can kill people in one bite…one strike n you become a photograph' – Mithun Chakraborty in Kolkata.
pic.twitter.com/zzWe31vdOI— Durgesh Gupta (@DurgeshGupta_) March 14, 2021
It remains to be seen if Mithun Da will indeed be the CM candidate for the party. At the rally, he said, “Have faith in your Dada. I have always done what I promised. I will keep my word and never abandon you.” The BJP has released its list of 57 candidates for the first two phases- the election will happen in eight phases spread across a month. Mithun Da’s name is not on the list of candidates contesting in the first two phases.
