If it ends up being Dilip Paul versus Rajdeep Roy, the MP will win again in BJP's boardroom 

Walk through the corridors of BJP Karyalaya in Silchar and you will hear enough and more chatters about former Deputy Speaker and two-time Silchar MLA Dilip Paul’s ghar wapsi in the party. Yes, the rumours have made headlines too. Paul had walked out of the party when the high command denied him the ticket to become the MLA for the third time. He contested as an independent candidate and came nowhere close to the historic win of his replacement – Dipayan Chakraborty.

Senior office bearers in BJP have been made aware about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nudge to bring back all who walked away from the party. As per many BJP leaders, the PM has called for the return before the 2024 General Elections to the Lok Sabha. This is in accordance with the party’s decision to strengthen its core.

What added fuel to the fire of Paul’s return is the statement by Minister Parimal Suklabaidya. The minister rarely features on the front pages of the newspapers for his statements and known for his well-calculated remarks. In fact, many say his words come from the state secretariat and not from his heart. Suklabaidya, as published by broadsheets, said, “If the party decided to welcome Dilip Paul, karyakartas will have to accept the decision.”

Someone very close to Dilip Paul said that irrespective of what the highcommand feels is correct, MP Rajdeep Roy, his lobby and MLA Dipayan Chakraborty are strongly against any such move. They are ought to be. Dilip Paul himself isolated Rajdeep Roy as the reason behind him not getting the ticket despite winning Silchar twice. Paul didn’t stop there. He was on record saying, “The headquarters of various illegal syndicates happens to be a residence in Bilpar.” For the freshers, Bilpar is where the MP lives.

So, if Paul was defeated by Roy within the party in 2021, what’s the situation in 2023? April 3, 2023, Silcharians woke up to the PM mentioning the city. One of the largest followed notable personalities on social media, Narendra Modi, retweeted a tweet by the MP with a quote. At the cost of reading too much into it, this social media activity could put the speculations about BJP’s candidate in 2024 from Silchar to bed.

MP Rajdeep Roy’s social media handle is otherwise highly mismanaged. The blunders made by the managers of the handle during the flood mayhem of 2022, shadowed MP’s hardwork and potrayed him and his lobby as a villain. One of them being, posting the controversial remark “Buy water and drink” (Afne kinia khain na).” Another being the post posing from dry balcony when his constituency was submerged. However, scan through the activities in the last one month, since the time Dilip Paul rumour got the air, you see a minister in the making.

MP Rajdeep Roy is only seen with the who’s who in BJP. He is with the elites in party, his hospital is getting the best of the awards and his importance is sky-rocketing. His initiatives, that were otherwise innocuous are now being noticed and appreciated at the quarters of the decision-makers. It won’t at all be a surprise, if soon JP Nadda announces, “Rajdeep Roy Bengali” as a candidate to run for the second term.

In such a scenario, what’s the equity of Dilip Paul? The former MLA had almost retired from public life. Since the Assembly Elections, he maintained a low key, and his loyalists, who had left the party along with him have either returned to the BJP or joined the dormant Trinamool Congress. Yes, the point of concern for the BJP can be the Municipal Corporation Elections. BJP has multiple aspirants in each ward and there can be severe infighting within the party. Paul can come handy in controlling the chaos. At best, that’s it, at worst, he is irrelevant. So, if Dilip Paul’s entry to the BJP is dependent on him overpowering Rajdeep Roy’s say in the party, that’s not gonna happen. In the boardrooms of BJP, Dilip Paul will face a heavier defeat than he had in 2021. The entry can only come through an approval, which Dr. Rajdeep Roy has very few reasons to sign.