New Delhi: With the vote share jumping from a meagre nine per cent to 30 per cent in West Bengal, BJP chief Amit Shah has decided to strengthen the organisation and make it battle-ready by spending three days in the state to hold meetings with his cadre, local NGOs and intelligentsia.
Mr Shah is expected to meet the booth level workers at the birthplace of the naxalite movement-Naxalbari in north Bengal. Union minister Smriti Irani earlier said that Naxalbari’s history was about “lal hinsa ki kranti ( history of red violence.)” Mr Shah’s visit to naxalbari will also be a signal that the BJP stands for “unity of the country” and “against red-terror.”
On Wednesday, Mr Shah is expected to be in Bhowanipore in south Kolkata — the constituency of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The plan is to randomly choose a non-BJP household and meet the residents and possibly have tea with them. It will be his “chai-pe charcha” with Bengalis.
In the evening, he is expected to meet local NGOs and intellectuals at Mahajati Sadan and later hold a dinner meet with all the state district presidents.
The following day, On April 27, Mr Shah will visit Rajarhat to meet the booth level workers and possibly repeat his plan of entering non-BJP households to hold his “chai-pe-charcha.” Incidentally, Bengal is the first stop to try out BJP’s Deendayal Vistar Yojna — Mr Shah’s plan to strengthen and expand the party at the booth levels, particularly in areas where BJP continues to remain weak. The other stops, for which dates have not yet been finalised, include, Odisha, Lakshwadeep, Telengana and even Gujarat. Mr Shah will be visiting the areas and booths in Gujarat, where the BJP either continues to remain weak or has been hit by the rapid rise of the Opposition. The party president is expected to spend at least three days in each of these states.
