Amit Shah to arrive in West Bengal tomorrow, will hold strategic meetings for 2019 Lok Sabha elections

Kolkata: BJP national president Amit Shah is arriving in West Bengal on a two-day visit on Wednesday to hold a strategic meeting with party leaders and workers ahead of the crucial general election next year. During his visit, Shah, is scheduled to address a rally in Purulia district, where two BJP workers were killed a few days back, state BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu said on Tuesday. Enthused by its performance in the rural polls held in the state recently, West Bengal BJP unit has prepared a blueprint for the Lok Sabha poll which they would submit to Shah. [caption id=“attachment_4500793” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of BJP chief Amit Shah. PTI[/caption] The BJP president had set the target of winning 22 seats, but, good performance by the saffron party in the recently held panchayat polls where it stood second outperforming CPM and Congress, buoyed the state unit to the target to 26 seats. But, still, the gap between BJP and the ruling TMC is wide. The party presently has two Lok Sabha seats — Asansol and Darjeeling — in the state. BJP president is scheduled to address a meeting of the party workers followed by a closed-door convention of the party’s social media cell, Basu said. “He will also address a meet of intellectuals of the city on Wednesday,” he added. Shah has on several occasions said that West Bengal has been a focused state for them and the saffron party would make a determined bid to optimise its tally in the upcoming Parliamentary poll in the state. On June 28, Shah will visit Tarapith Temple in Birbhum district and will offer Puja. He will then visit Purulia for a public meeting. He will also meet family members of the deceased BJP workers. Two BJP activists: 35-year-old Dulal Kumar and 20-year-old Trilochan Mahato were found hanging in West Bengal’s Purulia district on 2 June and 31 May respectively. Purulia located on border of Jharkhand has emerged as the latest flashpoint of a fight between Mamata Banerjee’s party and the BJP making efforts to increase its footprint in the state. BJP has performed well in Junglemahal region in the rural polls of which Purulia is a part. The brutal killings in Purulia district post rural polls have been used by the saffron party to attack Mamata Banerjee government on law and order front and the BJP president’s trip seems intended to sharpen the assault on TMC. According to West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh the performance of BJP in the last month’s panchayat polls despite ruling TMC’s “reign of terror”, has accelerated the ground-level political situation of the state.