Shah, Nadda in Kolkata, to talk LS poll strategy with state party leaders

According to the party, Shah and Nadda will preside over a series of organisational meetings on Tuesday. Both the leaders, however, will not hold public meetings or rallies.

On Tuesday morning, both Shah and Nadda will visit a gurdwara in north Kolkata’s Jorasanko and Kalighat Temple in south Kolkata to offer prayers. Later in the afternoon, they will hold a meeting with the state leadership. After that, both leaders will attend a social media volunteer meeting at the National Library. Later on Tuesday night, both leaders will depart for Delhi.

According to a senior leader of the party, the visit of the two leaders is significant as they are likely to formulate strategies for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. “It is a rare occasion that both top leaders are coming here at the same time to hold meetings with us. The time has come to start full-fledged preparations for the elections. We are expecting that they would show the roadmap and devise strategies to counter the TMC here,” said a BJP leader.

Sources in the party said that both the leaders are likely to send a strong message to the state leadership to work as one unit. “The party cannot afford to have infighting or multiple factions at a time when the elections are around the corner. There can be some message on this in Tuesday’s meetings,” said a party leader.

In the last few months, BJP workers have staged a protest against a section of party leaders, including Bankura MP Subhas Sarkar. Recently, BJP national secretary Anupam Hazra also criticised the state leadership over the functioning of the party in Bengal.

BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul said, “I have never seen both the top leaders visiting Bengal at the same time. This means the central leadership is taking West Bengal seriously. It is evident that we will get their directions to move ahead in the state.”

In April this year, Shah had visited West Bengal and had set a target of winning 35 Lok Sabha seats from the state. However, during his November public meeting in Kolkata, Shah did not mention any number but appealed to the people to elect Narendra Modi as Prime Minister again to uproot Trinamool Congress from Bengal.

The TMC, meanwhile, called the visit of Shah and Nadda as a “routine influx of leaders into Bengal”. “It’s a futile exercise in damage control after state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar publicly insulted Swami Vivekananda,” TMC said.