KOLKATA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Nitin Nabin will visit poll-bound West Bengal separately soon to intensify party campaigns in the state.
Bengal will go for assembly polls in 294 constituencies in two phases on April 23 and 29.
The BJP has already nominated candidates in 255 assembly seats, and the names of the remaining contestants will be announced this week.
According to BJP sources in Bengal, Nabin will visit the state between March 24 and 26, coinciding with the publication of the first supplementary list of adjudicated voters by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
He is expected to hold a series of meetings with state BJP leaders, including Samik Bhattacharya, Bengal president, Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition and MLA, and others, to take stock of the party’s organizational strength and election manifesto promises, aimed at challenging the ruling Trinamool Congress led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the upcoming elections.
Apart from meetings with state leaders, the national president will also meet leaders from five zones during his visit, sources said on condition of anonymity.
High-profile campaigns are expected to be launched across the state after Nabin’s visit. The BJP is also likely to release its election manifesto between March 26 and 28, countering the ruling party’s promises on social security schemes such as Lakhshi Bhandar for women and Yuva Sathi for unemployed youth.
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee unveiled her party’s election manifesto a few days ago. The BJP’s manifesto, titled ‘Sankalp Patra’, is expected to focus on financial allowances, promising to double the monthly grants under the ‘Annapurnar Bhandar’ and ‘Yuva Shakti’ schemes compared to the current government’s provisions. Currently, the monthly grant for a woman under Lakhshi Bhandar is Rs 1,500, and for the Yuva Sathi scheme, it is Rs 1,500 for unemployed youth aged between 21 and 40 years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are expected to participate in election campaigns and roadshows of the party after Ram Navami on March 30. Modi may take part in a roadshow in Kolkata before the second phase of polls scheduled on April 29. He is also expected to participate in roadshows in Kolkata, Asansol, and Siliguri.
A senior leader at the state BJP headquarters said the itineraries of the Prime Minister and Home Minister have not yet been finalised, but national leaders of the party are expected to address various rallies and meetings across the state over the next 30 days ahead of the first-phase polls, intensifying attacks on the Trinamool Congress government’s rule since 2011.
Modi has already addressed six major rallies and one mega rally at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground before the poll dates in Bengal were announced on March 14 by the national poll panel.
With more than 64 lakh voters deleted from the post-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral rolls in the state and another 60 lakh categorized as ‘under adjudication,’ the Bengal BJP feels somewhat relieved and expects to increase its number of seats this time, aiming to form the government in West Bengal.