J P Nadda to visit West Bengal for three days, focus on party reorganization
Telegraph | 11 August 2023
BJP president J P Nadda will be on a three-day visit to West Bengal from August 11 and will hold a meeting with office bearers of the party's state unit to take stock of the organisation ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year.
He will also meet those who had won the recently held rural elections on BJP tickets and the victims of poll violence, said a party leader here.
Nadda will arrive in the city on Friday evening.
The BJP president's visit to West Bengal comes at a time when the party's state unit has been plagued by internal squabbles and defections after the 2021 assembly election and a sharp decline in its vote share during the panchayat polls held last month.
"Nadda Ji will be on a three-day visit to West Bengal from August 11. On Saturday, he will hold Panchayati Raj Sammelan in Howrah. Later in the evening, he will meet the party's winning candidates in panchayat elections and the victims of poll violence at Science City Auditorium," the state BJP leader said.
Nadda will on Sunday hold meetings with all elected representatives of the party - MPs, MLAs, and zilla parishad members- from the state.
"Later in the day (Sunday), he will hold a meeting with the state office bearers and take stock of the party's organisation in West Bengal," the state BJP leader said.
Nadda will also visit Dakshineswar temple and offer puja during his three-day stay in the state.
The ruling Trinamool Congress declined to attach much importance to the scheduled visit of the BJP president.
"As Lok Sabha polls are approaching, BJP leaders will come to the state more frequently. But they should visit Manipur, which is burning," senior TMC leader Tapas Ray said.
Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah had set a target of winning more than 35 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal. The BJP won 18 out of the 42 parliamentary constituencies in the state in 2019.
Notably, former union minister Babul Supriyo, party MP Arjun Singh and six legislators, including national vice-president Mukul Roy, have switched to TMC since the 2021 assembly polls.
The Trinamool Congress came to power for the third consecutive term in the state in 2021 by winning 215 of the 292 assembly seats to which polling was held, while the BJP bagged 77.
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