BJP president tells party’s Bengal leadership that hitting out at Mamata Banerjee cannot be the only strategy for 2024: “Work on the party cadre at the ground level.”
BJP national president JP Nadda sent a strong message to the party’s west Bengal unit leadership during his recent visit to the state, instructing them to “work on the party cadre at the ground level” and come up with a strategy to provide an alternative narrative to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government led by Mamata Banerjee.
Sources in the party told The Indian Express that Nadda expressed his displeasure with the state unit at a core committee meeting last Saturday. His visit concluded on Monday.
“Party leaders will now have to work at the organisational level. Nadda ji reminded us that we cannot get the support of the people just by highlighting issues against Mamata’s government and shouting against TMC leaders,” said a senior BJP leader.
He added that it was also important to “talk about the alternative narrative” while “revealing the misdeeds of the TMC government”. “In simple words, we have to work more and talk less,” the senior BJP functionary added.
Sources said the different morchas or wings of the party will now play an active role across the state. “Morchas are the frontal organisations of our party. They have a big role to play. The national president has reminded us of that. The Mahila Morcha has been asked to connect with self-help groups. The Yuva Morcha has been asked to reach out to various clubs and social welfare organisations. The Kisan Morcha must increase its reach across farmer mandis. We have been reminded that we have to highlight the schemes of the central government,” said a leader.
Another BJP functionary said Nadda appreciated BJP workers for the fight they put up against the TMC in the recently concluded panchayat polls. “Nadda ji said there would be violence and oppression in Bengal from the TMC’s side and the party has to relentlessly fight against them,” he said.
After attending a meeting chaired by Nadda on Monday, BJP MP Locket Chatterjee, who represents Hooghly, said that they discussed the party’s strategy for the Lok Sabha polls. It is said that Nadda reiterated the target of winning 35 of the 42 seats in the state, which Union Home Minister Amit Shah had first announced earlier this year.
The BJP scored an unprecedented victory in West Bengal in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by winning 18 of 42 parliamentary seats. This time around, it was pinning its hopes on the division of minority votes so that it could consolidate its numbers against the TMC. But sensing an erosion in her Muslim vote base — the Indian Secular Front (ISF) made gains in Muslim pockets in last month’s panchayat elections — Mamata Banerjee agreed to join the INDIA bloc. Her decision to join hands with the Congress and the Left has the potential to dash the BJP’s hopes in West Bengal.
During his three-day visit, Nadda held a series of meetings with local party leaders.”Nadda addressed workers at an event organized at Kolkata’s Science City Auditorium and stated that the BJP would continue to democratically fight against the ruling TMC until ousting the government from Bengal.”
“The kind of violence that took place in the recent panchayat elections has reminded us of the violence which took place during India’s independence struggle. During the election, party workers of Mamata Banerjee, who could be labeled as goons, unleashed a reign of terror. The police not only remained inactive but also threatened our workers when they went to lodge complaints. In a nutshell, the TMC murdered democracy in Bengal. “Someone has converted the democratic set-up here into a jungle raj.” Despite such a situation, our workers won a large number of seats,” said Nadda.
At another event, Nadda hit out at Banerjee for “pursuing dynastic politics”. “The BJP national president also criticized the chief minister, stating that she was ‘pretending to be a champion of democracy’ while allegedly allowing atrocities to be carried out against people in her own state.”He also lashed out at Banerjee for seeking evidence from Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he spoke about the poll violence in Bengal.
Reacting to Nadda’s visit, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said, “Nadda is a defeated leader. He lost an election in his own state. His presence here will have no impact in West Bengal politics.”
CREDIT : THE INDIAN EXPRESS
