Dilip Ghosh is showing off his sporting skills — playing cricket, football and hockey amid the hustle and bustle of elections. Feisty as ever, the firebrand BJP leader has cheekily begun parroting opponent-in-chief Mamata Banerjee’s favourite slogan — “Khela Hobe (the game is on).”

“I am playing all out,” smiles Ghosh, the 59-year-old BJP nominee from Bardhaman-Durgapur, pitted against Trinamool candidate Kirti Azad, the former cricketer who was a part of the 1983 World Cup-winning team.

Ghosh, who cut his teeth as an RSS pracharak, is known for his long morning walk sessions following which he likes giving sound bites to the media. He has often displayed his skills in stick games and swordplay in public.

Purba Bardhaman: Former cricketer and TMC candidate from Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency Kirti Azad greets supporters during his election campaign at Nababhat PTI

This summer, however, has been a bit different as he has not only made it a point to prove that he is good at some popular outdoor sports, but he has also ensured that the visuals reach his target audience --- his constituents.

“Whenever I go out to campaign and see kids or youngsters playing some outdoor game, I feel like joining them... They also love it when I take part,” says Ghosh.

The emphasis on displaying his sporting side, a source close to Ghosh said, is not because his opponent is a former cricketer, but it is a planned attempt to send out a message that the former BJP state president is playing a grudge match to prove his worth.

“He cannot afford to lose this fight... This is his do-or-die battle,” said the aide of Ghosh, referring to the high-stake game of the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency that the BJP had won, albeit with a narrow margin, in 2019.

Ghosh has been scurrying to cover as much of territory as possible. “It takes one year to cover the seven Assembly segments of any parliamentary seat, and I got only one-and-a-half months,” Ghosh said.

On March 24, Ghosh, a sitting MP from Midnapore, was busy campaigning in the Narayangarh area of his erstwhile constituency when the party announced his name as the nominee from Bardhaman-Durgapur, which the BJP’s S.S. Ahluwalia had won by a margin of 2,439 votes in 2019.

Despite winning the Midnapore seat by a handsome margin of around 89,000 votes, Ghosh was replaced by Agnimitra Paul, the sitting BJP MLA from Asansol. Sources said that while he did not hide his displeasure with the party’s decision, Ghosh didn’t waste much time padding up on the new pitch.

When this correspondent met him during a campaign outing at Ward No. 26 of Burdwan Municipality on May 9, the mood around him — with youngsters jostling to get selfies with him — showed he still remains one of the biggest crowd-
pullers among the BJP’s Bengal leaders.

Dilip Ghosh on the campaign trail in Burdwan. Picture by Munshi Muklesur Rahaman

“I am not a BJP worker and can’t say who will win. We are happy that Dilip-da is contesting from here,” said Samir Biswas, a grocer, who came out of his shop to meet the BJP candidate.

Ghosh, not known to mince his words, said he was overwhelmed by the response of the people. “Wherever I am going, people are coming out of their homes and taking selfies with me. Most of them are saying that they feel good seeing me in person instead of watching me on TV,” said the former national vice-president of BJP.

Some BJP insiders said the decision to shift Ghosh — who was the man behind expanding the party’s footprint in Bengal by winning 18 out of 42 seats in 2019 — was part of a strategy to castle him since the Bengal unit of the party, which enjoys the support of a section of the central leadership, is keen on sidelining him.

“Dropping him from the list of candidates would have been a tough call... So, he was plucked out of his familiar ground and pushed into battle on an unknown turf,” said a source.

“Dilip-da himself is aware of the conspiracies... That’s why he is parroting Mamata’s slogan, ‘khela hobe’,” added the source.

This election is more about Ghosh’s political survival than the BJP’s attempt to retain
a seat.

“The party must have thought that I am the person who can win this seat. Dilip Ghosh has always been tested under tough conditions and he has emerged a winner. Let me tell you that I am going to be here for the coming five years,” said Ghosh, who has made a two-storey rented home in Burdwan town his temporary address.

Bardhaman-Durgapur is known for its character of changing political allegiances since it was formed in 2009, as the voters of this constituency sent nominees from the CPM, the TMC, and the BJP to Parliament in the last three elections.

Though Ghosh is confident of victory, the ground conditions are not that easy, said a political observer.

In 2019, a chunk of the CPM votes went to the BJP and helped the party to marginally win the seat, where the TMC has a strong organisational presence. With the CPM fielding educationist Sukriti Ghoshal, former principal of a local college, there are talks that the Left would bag a handsome share of the 16-lakh votes.

“We will also get a significant share of Muslim votes (the constituency has around 21 per cent Muslim votes)... Predicting the outcome on the basis of Ghosh’s drama and bluster would be naive,” said CPM district secretariat member Apurba Chatterjee.

Kirti Azad, the TMC nominee and a former BJP MP from Bihar’s Darbhanga, is also creating photo-ops. In an attempt to connect with the voters, Azad — whom his opponents term an “outsider” — dressed up in dhoti-panjabi while filing his nomination last month and was seen dancing with residents on the occasion of Bengali New Year.

Ghosh is, however, not worried. “I am here to give it my best shot... On June 4,
you will see why I have been saying ‘Khela Hobe’,” signed off Ghosh.

Bardhaman-Durgapur votes today