Modi To Begin BJP Campaign in Poll-bound West Bengal Next Month
It might be recalled that the Prime Minister had sent a message to the BJP’s workers and supporters in West Bengal while delivering his thanksgiving speech on the Bihar poll results when he said that the “Ganga flows through Bihar and reaches Bengal… I also congratulate the brothers and sisters of Bengal. Now together with you, the BJP will uproot jungle raj from West Bengal as well”. In Bihar, “jungle raj” (misgovernance) during the RJD era was the main poll plank of the NDA
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit poll-bound West Bengal in the second week of December to kick off the BJP’s campaign in the state. Assembly polls are scheduled early next year where the BJP is targeting the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamul Congress government over issues like misgovernance, corruption, crimes against women and “demographic invasion from Bangladesh”. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has also become an issue, with both the TMC and the BJP currently locked in a verbal fight over it.
It might be recalled that the Prime Minister had sent a message to the BJP’s workers and supporters in West Bengal while delivering his thanksgiving speech on the Bihar poll results when he said that the “Ganga flows through Bihar and reaches Bengal… I also congratulate the brothers and sisters of Bengal. Now together with you, the BJP will uproot jungle raj from West Bengal as well”. In Bihar, “jungle raj” (misgovernance) during the RJD era was the main poll plank of the NDA.
The TMC, along with its INDIA bloc allies, have been critical of the Election Commission over reported incidents of suicide and death of Booth Level Officers (BLO), particularly in West Bengal. The BJP, meanwhile, has claimed that the TMC is hindering the SIR exercise by threatening the BLOs from doing their work for vote bank politics. The party alleges that the flow of illegal migrants from the neighbouring country continues because of the TMC’s patronage.
The TMC approached the EC on the SIR issue saying that if it is “genuinely independent”, it should protect the booth-level officers, safeguard the rights of voters, and be transparent about the Special Intensive Revision process. The party claimed that it is not opposed to the SIR, it is strongly opposed to the "rushed, haphazard and opaque manner" in which the exercise was being done in West Bengal.
A meeting of senior state BJP leaders was held in Kolkata last week to draw up strategy for the PM’s visit and review the preparations. Also, Mr Modi's visit will be followed by that of top BJP leaders, including Union home minister Amit Shah. Mr Shah may also visit the state before the PM’s visit to review the poll preparations with senior state leaders. The PM’s rally is likely to be held in Hooghly, for which permission is awaited. Senior BJP leaders, including Union minister and election in-charge for the state Bhupendra Yadav have been making plans with state leaders and workers to prepare the ground before the party’s top brass start their election campaign.