The entry of the BJP in the West Bengal Assembly by winning a by-election seat has “inspired” the party leaders, who maintain that Bengali Muslim victims of border infiltration, migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and Marwaris have increasingly voted for the party in big numbers.
“Over 1.50 lakh people have joined us after the lok Sabha elections, particularly in Birbhum, Bardhaman and Malda. These new members in the State are mostly from CPI(M) cadre,” said Sidharth Nath Singh, the BJP national secretary and ‘Prabhari’ of West Bengal.
With an eye on Assembly polls, BJP president Amit Shah has directed West Bengal unit to divide 293 Assembly seats in West Bengal in six sectors like in Uttar Pradesh and make committees responsible to monitor voters.
BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who has been visiting the State frequently, has claimed that the BJP is developing “huge connect” with the people in the State, including Muslims, “affected” by the policies of the incumbent Trinamool Congress and previous CPI(M) regimes. “The party is developing its social expansion plans and they are showing positive results,” said Naqvi, one of the Muslim faces of the BJP. West Bengal has a high 25.25 per cent of Muslim population as per the 2001 national census.
The party has trained 50 leaders at State level and 100 at Mandal and block level to explain party’s ideology and programmes to the new members before engaging them in active party work.
Explaining BJP’s ‘success’ in West Bengal, Singh said Bengali Muslims in border areas resent infiltration from across the Bangalesh Borders settling in West Bengal “using benefits” under MNREGA, other BPl and economic and social benefit schemes.
Singh claimed that the protection of mafia to “Bengali infiltrators” with the backing of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) “is resented by Bengali voters”. “It is this section of Bengali Muslims, which has voted for the BJP in Basirat (the lone Assembly seat won by the party in by-elections) where we had done well in the lok Sabha polls too,” he said.
The party leaders maintained that their active cadre strength have swelled with membership touching over 75 lakh in West Bengal and “not stopping at that”.
“We are already preparing for Kolkata Municipal Council elections (KMC) by segregating 140 wards and mobilising support in each of them,” Singh said. On a recent KMC and Bidhan-nagar Municipal Corporation elections will be held simultaneously in May 2015.Singh said Shah has directed the party to make 'Sharda scam' a pan-Bengal issue, making voters aware of facts at Mandal and Panchayati level. The BJP is also formed anti-rigging committees and booth committees.
The BJP West Bengal ‘Prabhari’ told The Pioneer that former Union Home Minister and CPI leader Indrajit Gupta and former Chief Minister and CPM leader Budhadev Bhattacharya had spoken against “the regular border infiltration”. In contrast, he alleged the TMC has opened gates for Bengali Muslim infiltrators, impacting the interests of Indian Muslims.
He said it is not a Hindu-Muslim issue as his party “is fighting forced demographic changes” in parts of West Bengal. As against in Assam where Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is making efforts to block infiltration, the Mamata regime is encouraging infiltration, he said.