kolkata

IIE DIGITAL DESK : May 16, 2025 — The fresh rift has surfaced within the Bharatiya Janata Party’s West Bengal unit as Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly, has served a legal notice to former BJP Member of Parliament John Barla, demanding an unconditional public apology over what he called “baseless and defamatory allegations.”

The controversy stems from remarks recently made by Barla, in which he reportedly accused Adhikari of sabotaging party interests in the state and playing a divisive role ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. In response, Adhikari has termed the statements slanderous and damaging to his reputation, both within the party and in the public domain.

According to sources close to Adhikari, the notice was dispatched earlier this week and gives Barla a fixed period to withdraw his comments and issue a formal apology. Failure to do so, the notice warns, will result in legal action including a defamation suit.

Speaking to the media on Friday, Suvendu Adhikari stated, “I have always worked in the interest of the party and the people of West Bengal. These wild accusations are not only false but are designed to malign my image at a critical political juncture. I will not tolerate such defamatory behavior from anyone, whether inside or outside the party.”

John Barla, a former Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs and a prominent leader from North Bengal, had recently fallen out of favor with the BJP’s central leadership. His statements criticizing the party’s state leadership have become increasingly pointed, fueling speculation about possible disciplinary action or his drift towards another political camp.

Barla had accused Adhikari of deliberately sidelining North Bengal leaders and creating internal divisions within the BJP’s Bengal unit. These allegations, made during a press interaction in Siliguri, quickly went viral on social media and were picked up by local news outlets, prompting Adhikari to seek legal recourse.

Political observers believe that the incident reveals deeper fissures within the BJP’s West Bengal leadership, which has been grappling with internal discontent and declining electoral performance since the 2021 Assembly polls. Suvendu Adhikari, who famously defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, has since been the party’s most prominent face in the state. However, his growing influence has not gone uncontested within the state unit.

While the BJP’s central leadership has yet to issue an official statement on the spat, insiders suggest that the matter is being closely monitored. A senior BJP leader in Delhi, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “Disputes like these only hurt the party’s image. We will intervene if necessary, but first, we expect the leaders to resolve their differences internally and with maturity.”

Legal experts say that while political defamation cases are not uncommon, the fact that Adhikari chose to send a formal notice to a fellow party member is a notable escalation. “It signals that intra-party conflicts have moved beyond internal mechanisms and into the legal realm,” said Kolkata-based lawyer Sougata Dey.

As the political temperature rises in West Bengal ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, such infighting may prove costly for the BJP, which is striving to present a unified front against the ruling Trinamool Congress. Whether the current face-off between Adhikari and Barla leads to reconciliation or deeper factionalism remains to be seen.