Kolkata/IBNS: In an almost repeat of the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- spearheaded by none less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi- failed to breach the Trinamool Congress bastion even in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Following the party's drubbing in the elections, BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh, whose constituency was swapped, has made explosive remarks against the top brass.

In a cryptic post, Ghosh wrote on X, "Old is Gold." The post has triggered the debate of old versus new leadership within the saffron party in West Bengal.

Explaining his reason for such a post, Ghosh told ABP Ananda, "Veterans are often forgotten in politics. It is not correct to forget old guards. I have tried to make people understand this."

Speaking on the turncoats, the former BJP state president said, "New leaders will have to be given importance otherwise they won't come. But the motive behind coming into BJP has to be analysed. If someone comes for ideology, he/she will come to expand the party.

"But if someone comes when the party has expanded, he must be tested. There are a lot of people who have left us and returned again. Voters don't accept such turncoats."

On Friday, without taking any names, he took a dig at Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who was at the helm of the party's campaign in the state, over choosing the candidates for the 42 seats.

Ghosh, who won the Medinipur constituency in 2019, was made to contest this time from Bardhaman-Durgapur seat, where he lost to the TMC's Kirti Azad by a margin of over 1.37 lakh votes.

Ghosh's replacement for the Medinipur constituency, Agnimitra Paul, was also defeated.

Speaking to a local TV news channel, Ghosh said: "For over a year, I have spent all my time and money in Medinipur. But I wasn't allowed to contest from there. I was suddenly fielded from the Bardhaman-Durgapur seat with no time to prepare. The result in both seats (Medinipur and Bardhaman-Durgapur) is for all to see."

"Even Agnimitra Paul came to visit me and said what was the need for this switch, we were doing good in our respective constituencies," he said.

Ghosh, who is credited for BJP's meteoric rise in West Bengal politics after he became state chief in 2015, defeated veteran politician and TMC candidate Manas Bhunia from Medinipur in 2019.

But in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Ghosh was replaced by BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul as the candidate from Medinipur, which was won by TMC candidate, actress-politician June Maliah.

Across the state, it was Mamata Banerjee-led TMC's storm as it won 29 out of 42 seats defying all exit polls. The BJP could manage to win only 12, 6 down from its 2019 tally.