NEW DELHI: In a move that is sure to keep the West Bengal political pot boiling, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold a conclave of all the heads of polling booths in the state next month in a bid to give a push to organisational expansion in the run-up to the 2021 Assembly elections.
BJP national president Amit Shah and working president J P Nadda would be leading the footsoldiers of the saffron outfit.
“We are planning a meeting of all Shakti Kendras, groups of polling booths, in West Bengal next month. The BJP will not be just banking on leaders coming from other parties, but would be significantly expanding the base of the party in the state. Not just inorganic (poaching from other parties), but the BJP is on the job for organic (membership) growth of the party in West Bengal,” said a senior BJP functionary.
Next month’s meet, which is likely to be held in Kolkata, will be the first major event of the party after the Lok Sabha elections in which the BJP bagged 18 out of 42 parliamentary seats in the state.
Shah is learnt to be keeping a close watch on the party’s organisational activities in West Bengal.
“The BJP has gained the momentum in the state, which has to be maintained and scaled up in the course of next two years when the Assembly elections are due. There’s a marked anti-incumbency factor against the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool government. The BJP is increasingly being seen as a credible alternative in the state,” the BJP leader added.
The BJP chief had last week formed a three-member panel of party MPS to probe the incident of police firing in Bhatpara, which led to the deaths of two party activists.
The saffron party’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya is regularly visiting the state, while the party’s ‘Sherpa’ in West Bengal and former Union Minister Mukul Roy is seemingly working overtime to poach political activists in panchayats and local bodies, besides MLAs.
“The chief minister is in a panic mode. She is committing (political) mistakes. We sense that she would create further doubts in the ranks of her party workers and leaders. The BJP will build up further pressure on the chief minister with mobilisation of workers on the ground and leading campaigns on a host of issues in the coming months,” the senior BJP functionary said.