Shah takes poll battle to Didi nephew’s stronghold
Aiming to make inroads into the domain of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee, BJP leader and Union home minister Amit Shah will undertake an extensive tour across his Lok Sabha constituency that falls in South 24 Parganas district. About two months ago, party president J.P. Nadda had come under a violent attack by angry TMC workers in the district.
This will be Mr Shah’s second visit within a week to the state. Reaching Kolkata late on Wednesday night, Mr Shah is expected to visit Bharat Sevashram Sangha on Thursday morning before traveling to Sagar Island where he will offer puja at Kapil Muni Ashram, BJP sources said. Later the Union home minister will have lunch at a fisherman’s home in Namkhana to reach out to the fishermen’s community.
In the afternoon he will flag off and lead the fifth and final Rath Yatra of the BJP from Kakdwip, calling for “Parivartan” in poll-bound West Bengal.
Mr Shah’s visit to the district, which was once a stronghold of the ruling TMC, is an attempt to expand the BJP’s base while riding the wave of growing discontent in the rank and file in Ms Banerjee’s party and public anger against her government for poor relief and rehabilitation in the aftermath of cyclone Amphan.
Moreover, Diamond Harbour MLA Deepak
Haldar's defection to the saffron party from the TMC recently and Joynagar TMC MP Pratima Mondal's absence at party rallies of Mr Banerjee have only come as a boost to the BJP in the district which also have a large Muslim population. To compete with Mr Shah, the TMC chief and her nephew will address a mega party workers' rally at Pailan in another part of the same district during Mr Shah's visit.
Hours before Mr Shah's proposed tour, a group of Bengali actors including Yash Dasgupta and Papiya Adhikari joined the BJP in presence of senior leaders like Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy, widening the political divide further in Tollywood which was, till now, mainly controlled by the TMC.