Amit Shah is set to visit Bengal on Thursday and Friday.
New Delhi:
In the middle of the Bihar election, the BJP seems to have moved on to its next goal — Bengal. Among those in the ruling party investing in that state early is union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Amit Shah, who has kept away from the heat and dust of the Bihar campaign, is set to visit Bengal on Thursday and Friday.
Sources say the Home Minister will largely focus on fixing the organisational structure of the BJP in West Bengal ahead of the assembly elections next year.
There has been resentment in the party’s Bengal ranks since senior leader Rahul Sinha was dropped as national secretary and former Trinamool Congress leaders like Mukul Roy and Anupam Hazra, were given posts.
Mukul Roy, who was once Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s virtual number 2 in the Trinamool, has been made a vice president.
For weeks, top BJP leaders in Bengal have been firefighting more than anything else.
Amit Shah’s visit is seen as an attempt to end the carping between leaders set the Bengal team on campaign mode.
During the two-day visit, he is expected to hold meetings with BJP stakeholders in Bankura and Kolkata, say leaders.
Significantly, BJP president JP Nadda was also scheduled to visit the state but his trip was cancelled.
Amit Shah’s visit is also being seen in the backdrop of his meeting with Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, whose bitter feud with Mamata Banerjee has played out on Twitter.
Mamata Banerjee, 65, faces a tough challenge from the BJP as she aims for a third straight term in Bengal, due for polls in April next year.
The national election results last year confirmed her worst fears, that the BJP – which has never ruled Bengal — has been making inroads in the state and is now a very real threat, thanks to Amit Shah’s strategy.
During the Durga Puja last month, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed Puja Pandals for the first time as the BJP sought to catch the attention of Bengal’s residents through its most popular festival. In his speech, PM Modi paid rich tribute to the most famous sons and daughters of Bengal and even spoke a few words in the language.
