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Journalism of Courage
FOR A brief while in battleground West Bengal on Friday evening, rivals BJP and Trinamool Congress were on the same side. As former BJP state president Dilip Ghosh got married to party colleague Rinku Majumdar, wishes poured in, including from TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Ghosh and Majumdar had a court marriage followed by a traditional one with rituals, at a small event with only close relatives present on Friday. It was the 60-year-old groom’s first marriage and the second one for Majumdar, who is in her early 50s and has a son from a previous marriage.
From Friday morning, Ghosh started getting greetings from his BJP colleagues and TMC rivals. Mamata sent a letter, along with flowers and sweets. TMC leader Kunal Ghosh wished him, while Madan Mitra said, “I am happy Dilip da is getting married… I would request Dilip da, he should travel now with boudi (Majumdar).”
Ghosh and Majumdar met in 2021, while on their morning walks, and their friendship blossomed over time. As per the couple, Majumdar took the lead and proposed to Ghosh. That was in September, with Ghosh’s loss in last year’s Lok Sabha elections still fresh. He took a little over two months to say yes.
Again on Friday, it was Majumdar, a BJP Mahila Morcha leader, who led a procession to the groom’s house. Around 6 pm, she reached Ghosh’s residence at New Town wearing a Banarasi sari in red and pink colour and gold ornaments. She said she was “thrilled about marrying Ghosh”, and mentioned that “the entire media has its eyes on our marriage”.
Majumdar believes it was her persuasion that made Ghosh even consider marriage. “I made him think about it, probably no one before me had tried that.”
Ghosh repeated that he wanted to fulfill his mother’s wishes by getting married. “I always put party work first, and that is why I never thought about family. But, I cannot say no to my mother. She wanted that I should get married. Then she (Majumdar) proposed, and I accepted… In my life, there are only two women, one is my mother and now my wife,” Ghosh said, adding that he would be back at party work after the one-day break for the wedding.
BJP sources said Ghosh joined the RSS at an early age, and worked as a pracharak in different districts of West Bengal for a long time, putting marriage out of the picture. In 2015, he moved to the BJP and was soon made the state party chief.
About the same time, Majumdar, who got married for the first time when still in her teens, joined the BJP after working for a while at an NGO.
In the 2016 Assembly elections when the BJP won only three seats in Bengal, Ghosh was one of the winners. He was credited with giving the party a new momentum in the state in a short while, and along with the push from the central leadership, the BJP soared to 18 seats out of 42 in Bengal in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Ghosh, who himself won from Kharagpur, stepped down as state BJP chief and was made the national vice-president of the BJP.
During the 2021 Assembly polls, Ghosh found himself in a row when he mocked Mamata at a rally for “displaying” her bandaged leg, advising her to wear bermudas instead of a sari so that her leg can be seen “clearly”. Even the BJP had been defensive on the issue, with the party spokesperson saying Ghosh was a “generous person” and comments said during poll rallies should not be taken seriously.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Ghosh suffered a setback when he lost to TMC candidate and former BJP leader Kirti Azad from the Burdwan-Durgapur Lok Sabha constituency.
According to a senior BJP leader, the RSS was a bit hesitant about Ghosh’s decision to marry, as he was known for his frequent proclamations earlier about “having no family”. “The state and the party are my family,” he would say.
However, Majumdar is not worried about all that, saying she was “more than hundred percent sure that he (Ghosh) will be a very good husband” and fulfill all his responsibilities. “He is also very soft by nature… The toughness that he projects is only an outer shell.”
Majumdar adds that her son, who works at an IT firm, is “well settled” and has no “objections” either.
As for Ghosh getting married at the age of 60, the TMC’s Mitra said he welcomed it. “Those who get married early don’t understand the meaning of marriage. But, those who marry late are always very responsible because they know its significance.”
If anyone struck a sour note among the wedding bells, it was one of Ghosh’s own. While BJP state president Sukanta Majumder and several party leaders including Mangal Pandey, Sunil Bansal, Amit Malviya, Samik Bhattacharya, Locket Chatterjee and Rahul Sinha, dropped in to wish Ghosh, his known rival Suvendu Adhikari was a notable absentee.
Adhikari’s aides dodged an explanation, while Mitra quipped: “Suvendu (54) is also a bachelor. I think he got excited hearing Dilip da’s news and believes he will be the next (to get married).”
Later in the evening, Adhikari said there was no need for him to comment. “It is his (Ghosh’s) personal decision. The party has wished him, and I am a part of the party.”
