PM rallies in 7 ‘sectors’ in Bengal

Amid the factionalism and lack of leadership in the BJP’s West Bengal unit, the party is unlikely to project any chief ministerial candidate. The BJP’s organisational structure in the state is not very strong and as a result the RSS is playing an important role in framing campaign strategies. Senior RSS leader Bhaiyya Joshi has been camping in the state, holding meetings with various Sangh Parivar morchas. Coordination between the Sangh Parivar affiliaties, including the BJP, is one of the key agenda of meetings with senior RSS leaders.

Sources said the BJP will formally launch its election campaign next month, with the Prime Minister’s rally. The party has divided the state into seven sectors and the PM will address rallies in every sector. The BJP’s poll slogans will be centered around “parivartan ya patan” (change or downfall). The Trinamul Congress’ campaign in the last Assembly polls, in which it ended 34 years of Left rule in the state, had also centred around “poriborton”, and the party won 184 out of the 294 Assembly seats. Development will be the BJP’s main poll plank and party leaders will highlight the TMC government’s appeasement politics, rising unemployment, crimes against women, rampant illegal poppy cultivation and the state’s failure to check the fake currency racket.