Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda are set to arrive in Kolkata late on Monday night to hold several organisational meetings on December 26 with regard to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
According to party insiders, Shah will visit Gurudwara Bara Sikh Sangat, Jorasanko, and Kalighat temple on December 26, following which, he, along with BJP president J.P. Nadda will hold a meeting with the core committee of the party’s Bengal unit. The two leaders will also meet with the BJP social media volunteers’ team and thereafter might introduce some new workers during the organisational meeting.
A senior party leader from West Bengal said: “They (Amit Shah and JP Nadda) will visit all States to hold Lok Sabha organisational discussions. We are happy that they chose West Bengal to start these meetings. This clearly proves that they are giving huge importance to Bengal.” The Bengal BJP unit is in an upbeat mode for the organisational meeting before the New Year. Party insiders have claimed that this time, from candidature fixation to campaign plans, all poll-related nitty-gritty in West Bengal will be specially monitored by both Shah and Nadda.
Senior party leader Dilip Ghosh said: “They were supposed to visit after the conclusion of the Winter Session of Parliament because now the preparations for Lok Sabha elections are setting in, we are looking forward to this meeting.”
Amit Shah has set a target of 35 seats for the State BJP, which observers say, is not going to be an easy task.
Amit Shah had earlier visited Kolkata amidst the Assembly election in four States and had said that the Bengal unit should realise the target so that “Narendra Modi is forced to say that Bengal made him the Prime Minister for the third time”.
According to Agnimitra Paul, BJP state general secretary, the joint visit of the top two leaders underscores the significance that Bengal holds in the eyes of the party’s central leadership.
“I have never witnessed both top leaders visiting Bengal simultaneously. This indicates the substantial importance that Bengal holds for the leadership of the BJP,” she said.
Reacting to Shah’s visit, Trinamool Congress spokesperson and Minister Shashi Panja said: “Honourable Minister may come anytime but what I have heard is that he is coming to sort out problems in their Bengal BJP unit.”
Meanwhile, on December 26, the Trinamool Congress’ youth wing will conduct a rally in every block and town in the State in protest against the remarks made by BJP State president Majumdar on Swami Vivekananda, demanding an apology from him and Amit Shah and pay tributes to Swami Vivekananda.
The crucial visit of the top BJP leaders comes at a time when the party is looking to fortify its organisational machinery ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Internal discord and defections have marred the BJP following the announcement of the 2021 Assembly election results.
Former Union Minister Babul Supriyo, party MP Arjun Singh, and six legislators, including national vice-president Mukul Roy, have defected to the Trinamool Congress since the 2021 Assembly polls.
In the 2021 elections, the Trinamool Congress secured a resounding victory for the third consecutive term, winning 215 Assembly seats, while the BJP secured 77 seats.
BJP won 18 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections which was one of the best performances of the party in Bengal till now. Therefore, it is a challenge for the party this time to repeat the result.