BJP ropes in cabinet ministers to win West Bengal
Dec 19, 2020
By Pragya Kaushika
New Delhi [India], December 19 : Ahead of the state assembly polls in West Bengal scheduled for next year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to deploy several of its senior cabinet ministers to take on the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC).
With Union Home Minister Amit Shah already on a two-day visit to the state, the party is soon likely to finalise tours of several of its ministers to West Bengal, a few of whom have already started working. The tour of Shah is seen as a game-changer. As many as 11 MLAs, one former and one sitting MP of TMC are set to join BJP today.
Among the ministers likely to visit the state are Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Prahlad Patel, Sanjeev Balyan, Arjun Munda and Mansukh Mandaviya to name a few. The party has also roped in Uttar Pradesh's deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Madhya Pradesh's home minister Narottam Mishra in the process.
The senior leaders are expected to interact with the party cadre and also attempt to garner grassroots level sentiment prevalent in the state apart from wooing TMC leaders in its fold to damage the ruling state government.
The Union Ministers are expected to visit different parts of the state and apprise the party workers regarding the various central schemes that have benefited the state. They are also likely to inform them about the various schemes that have not been implemented in the state by the TMC government.
Earlier, BJP had sent its party's national office bearers to collate a detailed report on ground situation and issues that can echo in assembly polls.
While BJP chief JP Nadda is currently in self-isolation due to COVID-19, he is also expected to send teams of organisational functionaries to the state to oversee the poll preparedness.
BJP hopes to do well in the forthcoming West Bengal assembly polls likely to take place next year.
BJP had stunned the Trinamool Congress in 2019 Lok Sabha polls as it wrested 18 parliamentary constituencies in the state, coming up with its best-ever performance in the state with 42 lower house constituencies.
Post the historic Lok Sabha victory of BJP under a Narendra Modi-led campaign, the party considers winning upcoming assembly polls as crucial and wants to send out a strong message to the opposition by winning in the state.
