With the State being top on the party’s agenda, BJP national president Amit Shah would devote more time on Bengal, visiting the State at least twice in the coming six months during which he would try to establish one-to-one contact with the people.
Bengal has been the focal point of BJP’s strategic discussions in the national meet at Bhubaneshwar, State party president Dilip Ghosh has said adding the national leaders have taken notice of the party’s rise to second place in the South Contai Assembly elections.
“The way the party has beaten the Marxists and emerged as the main challenger to the ruling Trinamool Congress in a place which is considered as the personal fief of the local Adhikary family (read State Minister Subhendu Adhikary and his father and brother both MPs), the BJP has started fitting into the imagination of the voters and so the national leadership is giving more attention to Bengal,” Ghosh said.
According to reports, Shah would visit Bengal at least twice in the coming six months. In both the cases he will spend three days each during which he will hold booth-level meetings and also try to establish personal contact with the people.
The BJP national president is likely to make door-to-door visits and speak to the people personally in order to understand their views and aspirations, party leaders said.
To suggestions that the BJP was passing through its ‘golden age’ Shah had earlier said that the party will reach that stage only after it forms Governments in Bengal and Kerala.
Congratulating BJP for nourishing a pipedream, Trinamool Congress leadership dared the saffron outfit to achieve the ‘lesser ages’ before graduating into the golden age.
“We congratulate them for nourishing a pipedream, but before reaching the golden age in Bengal, they should first pass through copper age, bronze age, silver age and iron age,” Trinamool national general secretary Partho Chatterjee said adding “A party must take part in people’s movements before coming to power. Mamata Banerjee has a long history of struggle. BJP is trying to achieve its goal throughshortcuts, by staging communal gimmicks. They will fail miserably here.”
Not withstanding Chatterjee’s claims, the Trinamool tended to take the saffron success seriously with the party taking out long district-level ‘peace and communal harmony processions’ throughout the State.
“We want to maintain peace in Bengal so this rally,” said Birbhum leader Anubrata Mondal.
Meanwhile, sources in the Trinamool denied reports that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would stage political rallies during his visit to Bhubaneshwar on Tuesday.
“It is purely an apolitical visit. She will go to meet an ailing party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay, who is currently hospitalised,” Chatterjee said. Bandopadhyay was arrested and lodged in Bhubane-
shwar jail for his alleged role in Rose Valley chit fund scam.