‘Dil pe likh lo, is baar hamari sarkar’: Shah exhorts cadre to deliver Bengal
Times of India | 1 January 2026
Kolkata: Union home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asked his colleagues in the state unit to etch in their hearts a victory in Bengal. "Dil pe likh lo, is baar hamari sarkar", he said while addressing party workers and netas at Science City auditorium, hours before leaving the city. Shah also demanded 22 out of the 28 assembly seats in and around Kolkata. The home minister on Tuesday had claimed that BJP would come to office in Bengal with two-third majority.
"Dil pe likh lo/is baar hamari sarkar... Our workers have been killed and that bled our hearts. I want 22 out of 28 seats from the areas in and around Kolkata this time," he told party workers from Kolkata Mahanagar. Earlier, he held consecutive meetings with Bengal BJP seniors. While BJP could not secure even a single seat in Kolkata, Jadavpur and Dumdum areas in the 2021 assembly polls, it managed to get leads in Jorasanko and Shyampukur assembly segments in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
During his one-hour-long address, Shah mentioned Bhowanipore, the assembly constituency from which CM Mamata Banerjee won the 2021 bypoll. While Shah was saying that the party had secured a lead in three wards of Bhowanipore, party karyakarta Navin Mishra stood up to correct him. Recognising the error, Shah corrected himself to say that "sheer hard work had led to BJP leading in five wards in Bhowanipore". "He asked us to focus only on the election till the counting of votes is over," said BJP neta Shishir Bajoria.
"There are around 140 seats in areas surrounding Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas, and Howrah where the party is yet to make a significant presence. Shah wants us to penetrate this zone this time," a Bengal BJP neta said.
Shah, who had flagged alleged infiltration in Bengal on Tuesday, again raised serious concerns over "changing demography" around Kolkata. "He said that we might be unable to assess the threat now, but Kolkata is not safe any more. Infiltration is going to increase very soon and we will be in deep trouble then," a neta said, quoting Shah.
The Union home minister also touched upon concerns over BJP's weak organisation in the state. "He asked us not to pay any heed to narratives built around a weak organisation in some areas. Our organisational strength has improved a lot compared to what it was in 2021. He said... Jisko jo sochna hai soch le, charcha chalne dijiye (let people think whatever they want to. Let the discussions continue)," said the neta.