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Before the 2021 assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party had proclaimed that it would bring “parivartan” (change) to West Bengal. However, despite an improved performance, it could win only 77 of the 294 seats, with the Trinamool Congress registering an emphatic victory.
According to BJP insiders, party workers and leaders faced violence purportedly at the behest of the ruling TMC and it was a difficult time for the saffron outfit.
Also, top leaders such as Mukul Roy and Arjun Singh who had switched over from Trinamool before the polls slowly went back after the results. The morale of the BJP had hit rock bottom, say party sources.
A section of TMC workers also started thinking the BJP had lost focus on Bengal, analysts say.
But after the landslide win in Uttar Pradesh this year, the BJP seems to be trying to rejuvenate itself in Bengal. Senior leader and union home minister Amit Shah visited north Bengal in May for three days in a bid to buoy cadres. A BJP MLA from the region said, “Now again we are getting a feeling like in 2017. Booth sashaktikaran (empowerment) programme has started. Delhi leaders have started coming in. We now want to have a fresh start.”
The BJP has started a programme under which its central leaders are going to every state. As part of this, union ministers Smriti Irani and Pratima Bhoumik are focusing on Bengal. According to the plan, each leader will have three days at a time during which they will hold organisational meetings. Central leaders like Kiren Rijju will attend these programmes.
From demanding CBI inquiries repeatedly to campaigning aggressively online, the BJP suddenly seems to be gaining momentum in West Bengal. This clearly reflects that the party is not in the mood to leave Bengal and is trying to build up its strength in which visits by central leaders will help, say observers.
Local leaders feel that the plan has at least three benefits. Workers on the ground will get the impression that come what may the BJP is still focusing on Bengal. Secondly, faction fights in the local unit may go down under central monitoring. Thirdly, the party seems to be trying to learn from its mistakes. This type of focus and commitment was seen in the Bengal unit around 2016 and afterwards, say insiders.
TMC sources, though, say all these activities will have no impact on the people of Bengal.
Around 2017, BJP leaders used to visit cadres’ residences and share meals with them. Smriti Irani repeated the same practice recently.
“I went to Howrah and found out people there want Pradhan Mantri Awas but they are not getting it. Imagine what is going on,” she said.
West Bengal will have panchayat elections in 2023 followed by the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. The BJP is hoping the new strategy will lend it enough momentum to influence the voters in its favour and gain ground in the state.
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