KOLKATA: A slice of the BJP’s workforce in West Bengal has thrust itself into Delhi’s poll maidan, fanning out to the city’s pockets having a sizeable contingent of Bengali-speaking voters and making them aware of the state’s ‘plight’ on the watch of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
A team of 20 members from Mahila Morcha, the BJP’s women’s ping in Bengal, are camping in areas such as Gandhinagar, Karol Bagh, Dwarka, Tughlakabad and Greater Kailash, which are home to Bengali settlers, urging them not to vote for ‘Mamata’s friend’ (Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal.
A group of 12 leaders, representing the youth wing of Bengal BJP, are also in the national capital canvassing for party nominees. Khogen Murmu, the sitting BJP MP from Malda (North) constituency has already addressed a public meeting at Karol Bagh.
“If the BJP is elected in Delhi, we will highlight the support of the Bengali community in our campaign back home,” a BJP leader from Bengal said.
Sitting Bengal MPs Locket Chatterjee and Dilip Ghosh, who also heads the state BJP unit, have also been canvassing for party candidates in Delhi after attending Lok Sabha sessions. Other prominent Bengal leaders, including Rahul Sinha and Mukul Roy, made recent campaign visits to the Capital.
“Our youth wing workers are visiting pockets home to Bengali settlers, seeking their opinion on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The interviews are being video-graphed. We’ll study the pattern of questions as it would help us approach the people ahead of the municipal elections in Kolkata and the 2021 Assembly elections,” a BJP leader in Kolkata said.
Union minister and MP from Bengal’s Asansol district Babul Supriyo has also sent some of his loyalists to the Capital in a bid to read the minds of voters.
A member of the BJP’s Bengal youth wing said, “We’ve been highlighting the plight of Bengal’s goldsmiths during our interactions with Bengali-speaking voters here.”