Exclusive | From dragon fruit farming to CM reckoning: Dilip Ghosh's Bengal comeback story

Leading Bengal CM face Dilip Ghosh slammed the Trinamool Congress, alleging that Mamata Banerjee turned "netas into goondas and goondas into netas," and said the BJP may later admit "useful" leaders. He claimed her regime is coming to an end, accused her of undermining democratic institutions, and said the party's priority would be restoring law and order.

In Short

• Dilip Ghosh calls TMC a mafia gang needing elimination
• He softens stance on absorbing TMC workers into BJP later
• Ghosh celebrates victory atop a JCB, symbolising political change

“Trinamool Congress is a mafia gang without any roots and should be eliminated from society,” BJP MLA-elect Dilip Ghosh told IndiaToday.in as Mamata Banerjee’s 15-year rule in Bengal came crashing down.

But moments later, the man emerging as a frontrunner in the chief ministerial race softened his stance on absorbing TMC workers into the BJP: “The party has said they won’t take anyone now. But now doesn’t mean forever.”

“They’ve taken people like Tapas Roy (MLA-elect from north Kolkata’s Maniktala). So if someone is useful and has good intentions, they can join in the future. But for now, the doors of the party remain closed,” he added.

Speaking to IndiaToday.in over the phone, Dilip Ghosh -- soft-spoken but never one to mince words -- apologised for his hoarse voice, worn down after months of relentless campaigning.

However, after his thumping win from his fortress of Kharagpur Sadar in Medinipur, Ghosh’s josh remains high. And nothing captured the mood better than a viral clip of him celebrating atop a JCB bulldozer -- an image loaded with political symbolism in the current climate.

His name is now among the frontrunners for the chief minister’s post, alongside Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur this time after having beaten her in Nandigram in the last polls.

Surrounding the buzz over his name, however, Ghosh appeared unbothered. “What the party decides is the party’s choice. I have no choice in this. I am just a soldier,” he said.

After his 2024 Lok Sabha debacle, a dejected Dilip Ghosh believed his political career was over. Stripped of posts and weighed down by a bruising defeat, he found a new passion in turning West Bengal into a dragon fruit hub.

Back then, he told this author that being denied a ticket from his Medinipur stronghold and shifted elsewhere at the last moment was part of an “internal conspiracy.”

But his tryst with the lotus was not over yet. With Samik Bhattacharya taking charge of the BJP in Bengal a year ahead of the polls, Ghosh found himself back in the limelight. He was given a chance to contest from his home turf -- and there was no looking back after that.

A man known for his calculations, Ghosh told IndiaToday.in that he was confident not just of victory, but even of his winning margin.

“I had already assessed that I would secure 60 per cent votes in my constituency. I ended up with 57 per cent instead,” he said.

Bhattacharya, like Ghosh and Adhikari, is also among the names doing the rounds for the chief minister’s post.

Much of that stems from his ability to unite a divided Bengal BJP through what party insiders describe as a careful 'Samik-aran' between the old and new guard -- something IndiaToday.in had highlighted in an exclusive interview with the Bengal BJP chief ahead of the results.

Ghosh, who joined the RSS in 1984 -- a decade after his “senior” Bhattacharya -- mirrors the same discipline and grassroots party-worker image often associated with the BJP’s ideological parent.

Reflecting on his journey from the 2019 high as Bengal BJP chief to his 2024 low, and now back in the reckoning, Ghosh said it all comes down to staying connected to one’s purpose -- even when the cameras are no longer on you.

“The party decides the post. But how I reign in the hearts of the people, I will decide. For the past two years, I have stayed connected with people on the ground, taken care of them and done social work. My work as an ordinary worker has been noticed,” he told IndiaToday.in.

Ahead of the swearing-in, Thursday had already witnessed enough drama. Mamata Banerjee’s decade-and-a-half-long rule in Bengal came to an unceremonious end after the Assembly was dissolved on May 7. The shadow of political violence, meanwhile, loomed large with the shooting of Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant.

Ghosh, too, was vocal about the incident through the day. In a veiled dig at the outgoing Mamata government, he told reporters, “Police should act more firmly. A lot of anti-social elements that have been active in Bengal politics for some time now must be stopped. Our workers are still being targeted... it is not correct. The police should function in a more neutral manner.”

Brooding over the chain of events and Mamata Banerjee’s rule in general, Ghosh, without mincing words, told IndiaToday.in that under her regime, “all netas turned goondas and all goondas turned netas.”

“She is paying for her sins. She has no one else to blame. No one had the right or courage to even put their ideas across to her,” he told IndiaToday.in.

Ghosh said the curtains had now fallen on Mamata Banerjee’s rule.

“Power is like life for her. That is why she is clinging to it so desperately. You cannot play with democracy. You cannot ignore the Supreme Court, the Constitution or laws passed by Parliament. This illusion that she can always have her way will soon be shattered,” he added.

Looking ahead, Ghosh said the primary objective of the new government would be to restore law and order so that Bengal could create an environment conducive to investment, job creation and getting the wheels of the economy spinning again.

But his parting shot was aimed squarely at alleged corruption under Mamata Banerjee. “Law will take its own course. Agencies will do their job. Remember this -- no one will be spared,” he warned.

- Ends