Lotus focused

How the BJP plans on winning West Bengal, and why the governor might be a crucial factor in that pursuit

- RABI BANERJEE

IN THE FIRST WEEK of March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began meeting all 18 BJP Lok Sabha members from West Bengal, one on one. “He has tasked all of us with certain jobs,” said an MP who met Modi. “He said he would personally monitor us and will come to Bengal quite often after June.”

Apparently, Modi wanted to know the progress of Central projects in their constituencies, and about the situation in the state after the violence related to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. “He asked me to report to him directly on the progress and also on any project facing logjam or being held back due to lack of initiative by the state government,” said Maldaha (Uttar) MP Khagen Murmu.

The BJP’s state unit has said that Modi himself would be the face for the 2021 assembly elections, due in April. “Preparation has begun for his tour across the state later this month,” said a senior national leader who is co-in-charge of West Bengal. “He would tell people what Bengal has missed in the past five years during Mamata’s (Banerjee) rule.”

This is a sharp deviation from the BJP’s usual plan for state elections— having Home Minister Amit Shah as the face of the campaign. In Bengal, Modi would be at the top, and under his guidance, Shah would spend at least three days each fortnight, to begin with, and then three days per week in the state. The party has rented a big apartment for Shah in Kolkata’s New Town.

Said BJP state vice president Biswapriya Roychowdhury: “Yes, Amit ji would give a lot of time to Bengal. Like our state in-charge and co-in-charge have their accommodation in the state, Amit ji would also get his new address in Kolkata to monitor the campaign and organisation.”