Trying to maximise its gains since 2014 in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party is keeping the political heat on in the State as its General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who recently returned from the State, goes there again on Thursday on a three-day visit to continue agitational progammes and review organisational structure.
The RSS with around 1,273 branches in the State has helped in increasing BJP’s footprints in the State, said BJP State unit executive member Bhaskar Ghosh.
The ‘lalbazar gherao’ on Thursday by the BJP, three days after the left’s ‘Nabanna March’ call on May 22, will be led by Vijayavargiya and State leaders. The BJP General Secretary will be going to the State again from June 1 to June 6. He would then be visiting North Bengal including Siliguri and Darjeeling.
According to the party leaders, BJP president Amt Shah who had initiated booth-level contact in West Bengal from Naxalbari in Siliguri will also be going again to the State Bengal in July and September.
The frequent visits of senior BJP leaders to West Bengal are happening amidst BJP’s West Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh ‘s comments that the party leadership would be happy to accept heavyweight politicians like State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury if they are willing to join his party. It is being maintained that Chowdhury is unhappy with the possible tie up between the Congress and the TMC.
The BJP claims that besides the Congress, the CPM leaders and cadres are also “restless and undecided” in the State. Though TMC has maintained its grip over voters in the State, the BJP is enthused by increase of its vote share from four
per cent to 24 per cent and rise in registration of the membership which has gone up to 42 lakh.
The BJP had finished a distant second from TMC in bypoll in Kanthi Dakshin assembly seat in East Midnapur district, last month, but managed to push CPI to the third place.
BJP seeks to polarise voters in the State on the issue of illegal infiltration of Bangladeshi saying they have entered the voters list and given ration card on account of “appeasement policy” of Mamata Banerjee and it should be inquired into by the Government.
“Bengalis in West Bengal are increasingly feeling that their status is in danger with the presence of large scale infiltrators from Bangladesh border”, said Vijayvargiya.