Amit Shah has given the Bengal BJP a steep target for next year’s assembly election.
Kolkata:
“Mission Bengal” in mind, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in the state on Saturday for a two-day visit, which will include a roadshow in Birbhum and a public rally in neighbouring Midnapur. The buzz is that he would also acquire a new leader for his party — Bengal’s former minister Suvendu Adhikari, who quit the ruling Trinamool Congress today.
The induction ceremony is likely to be held in Midnapore, Mr Adhikari’s home turf, where Amit Shah will hold a rally on Saturday afternoon.
The roadshow in Birbhum has been scheduled for Sunday, hours after his visit to the Visva Bharati University — a huge cultural centre of the state, established in 1921 by Rabindranath Tagore.
On both days, Mr Shah would be visiting nearby temples and lunch with the locals. On Saturday, he would be visiting a farmer household. Sunday lunch will held at the home of Baul singer — the wandering minstrels of the state.
Mr Shah has given the state BJP a steep target for next year’s assembly election. The party, he has said, must win 200 of the state’s 294 assembly seats.
Over the coming weeks, a string of BJP leaders and ministers will visit the state on whirlwind campaigns. The list includes Union minister Gajendra Shekhawat, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Madhya Pradesh cabinet minister Narottam Mishra, Sanjeev Balyan, Prahlad Patel, Arjun Munda, and Mansukh Mandaviya.
The BJP’s ambition in the state has led to bitter turf war and political violence, which has escalated following the BJP’s huge gains in last year’s Lok Sabha elections. From holding two seats in the state, the party won 18 of Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a huge critic of the Central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has hit out at the BJP repeatedly, calling it a party of “outsiders” who have no comprehension of Bengal or its culture and would stoop to any level.
The BJP has accused the Trinamool Congress of creating and nurturing a culture of violence — accusations the ruling party has vehemently denied.
With a series of leaders leaving her party for the BJP, Ms Banerjee has also accused the BJP of “shamelessly” shopping for her party leaders.
The Chief Minister, however, has hit back at the rebels. “Some people will come and go with the tide. But the real Trinamool is intact,” she said at a rally in Cooch Behar before Mr Adhikari’s resignation.
