Union home minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah will reach West Bengal for a two-day visit on the night of January 28 and is expected to kick off the party’s Lok Sabha election campaign in the state the next day with a rally in Mecheda. The town is the entry point of the Purba Medinipur district, which is known to be a stronghold of Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of opposition in the West Bengal assembly.
Shah will also meet intellectuals in Kolkata and visit a temple in North 24 Parganas district’s Baranagar city. He will have meetings with state BJP leaders too.
Bharatiya Janata Party insiders told News18 that they are very optimistic about Shah’s visit. The senior BJP leader and strategist has set a target of 35 Lok Sabha seats out of the 42 in Bengal and his state tour will buoy the cadres, they added.
According to BJP sources, the event in Mecheda will be a workers’ meeting. The area comes under the Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency where film star Dev is the MP from the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress. Two neighbouring seats are Kanthi and Tamluk with Suvendu’s father Shishir Adhikari and brother Dibyendu Adhikari as MPs.
Observers said it is clear that the BJP wants to perform well in Purba Medinipur, where Suvendu holds sway.
Shah has started visiting West Bengal again since December to spur party workers, said sources. In December, he first did a sabha in the heart of Kolkata. He returned towards the end of the month and spoke to the party’s social media workers in the state. According to sources, those present were directed to promote the Ayodhya Ram Mandir issue aggressively.
The TMC too has begun its election preparations and chief minister Mamata Banerjee has started going to various districts to hold meetings with local party leaders and workers. On January 29, the same day as Shah’s Mecheda rally, the CM will be in Cooch Behar district for an administrative meeting but is also expected to address locals. Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee will hold a review meeting in his constituency Diamond Harbour on that day.
“Shah may venture here but that won’t bring votes for them,” said a TMC leader.
With the TMC breaking its alliance with the Congress in West Bengal for the Lok Sabha polls, observers said, the BJP is looking to cash in.
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