KOLKATA: With 48 hours to go for the fourth phase of polls in West Bengal, BJP’s Bengal chapter organised a high-decibel campaign in Alipurduar on Thursday featuring its national president JP Nadda.
The procession, decorated with balloons, placards, flags, travelled through the heart of the city. Alipurduar, comprising five Assembly constituencies, is one of the two districts in north Bengal where first phase of polls will be held on Saturday.
Urging the crowd to shout Jai Shri Ram, Nadda gave a call to wipe out Trinamool Congress from north Bengal.
“We performed impressively in north Bengal in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections because of your overwhelming support. This is the time to complete the work, which is uprooting the TMC from north Bengal. This will begin from the Alipurduar district,’’ Nadda said.
In the 2019 general elections, BJP bagged seven Lok Sabha seats out of eight in north Bengal, forcing TMC to return empty handed.
Congress had won the Malda (south) seat.
Thousands joined the roadshow and they came from Alipurduar’s adjoining areas including Banerhat, Cooch Behar.
Sources in the BJP said that the party high command is treating the districts of Cooch Behar and Alipurduar as priority because they are adjacent to Assam.
“Names of many relatives of the electorates living in these two districts were left out of the final NRC list in Assam two years ago. Our leadership wants to ensure that there will be no adverse impact of it among those electorates in Cooch Behar and Alipurduar,’’ said a senior BJP leader.
Eyeing a massive victory in the northern part of the state again, Nadda said: “The people of north Bengal have been deprived of all benefits and the Bengal chief minister has been sitting idle during the 10 years of her tenure. Voters of this region can bring a change in Bengal’s seat of power. North Bengal is going to play a crucial role in derailing Mamata Banerjee’s government and replace it with the BJP.’’
Among the 54 Assembly constituencies in north Bengal, the BJP secured lead in 35 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.