The Union Home minister Amit Shah and the BJP national president JP Nadda will on Monday make a midnight landing in Calcutta for a day-long series of meetings with party functionaries and sympathisers scheduled for Tuesday.
The meetings assume significance as the party’s blue-print for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls campaign in Bengal is likely to be finalized.
The first meeting will be held in the afternoon at the National Library, where some people perceived to be close to the organization, apart from the party’s state functionaries, have also been invited.
Later in the evening, a meeting with senior state leaders and observers will be held at a city hotel, where Shah and Nadda will stay during their one-day visit.
BJP insiders said, poll strategy and candidates would be the two key issues in Tueday’s meetings.
“It is amply clear that some of the sitting MPs will be dropped in both north and south Bengal. Some of the sitting MLAs could be nominated for the Lok Sabha,” said a BJP Bengal functionary.
The tallest BJP leader from Bengal right now and also the leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, sources said, is not keen on disturbing the MLAs.
“Suvendu da believes that the MLAs are working as a cohesive team and any changes could hamper the prospects in the next Assembly polls,’ said a source. “Right now Suvendu da is the only leader whom Amit Shah listens to. He will play a crucial role in the Lok Sabha campaign from behind.”
The challenge for the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls is to maintain its impregnable fortress spread over 227 seats in states as diverse as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh. Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and make inroads in states where it still has limited presence.
While the southern states like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu (zero MPs) continue to remain difficult, Bengal could turn into a happy hunting ground for the saffron party especially after its stellar showing in 2019.
In the last Lok Sabha, the BJP bagged 18 seats (Arjun Singh the Barrackpore MP has since defected to the Trinamul, while Babul Supriyo who represented Asansol resigned and is now a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government), its highest ever tally from Bengal. In the Assembly polls held in 2021, the party failed to live up to its own expectation as Trinamul romped home comfortably. On paper, electorally the BJP is the largest Opposition party in Bengal.
During his last public meeting in Calcutta, held about a month ago, Shah had spoken on implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the corruption of Trinamul leaders at various levels. He had challenged chief minister Mamata Banerjee to suspend arrested Trinamul leaders like Partha Chatterjee, Jyotipriya Mullik and Anubrata Mondal.
“These two issues will figure prominently in the Bengal campaign,” said a BJP source.
Apart from the two key meetings, Shah will also visit the Gurudwara Bara Sikh Sangat at Jorasanko and the Kalighat temple.