Bengal BJP completes survey of candidates to take on TMC
Report of the survey has been forwarded to the central BJP leadership.
SRINAGAR: Fresh snow avalanche in Bandipora district near Cherwan village resulted in trapping of many villagers and the state disaster team rescued them with difficulty on Saturday. However, three persons, including a minor, were killed in landslides in the Jammu region. Three persons were killed and several others injured in two landslides in Poonch and Reasi districts of Jammu division following heavy rains. Police said that a passenger vehicle came under the debris of landslide in Poonch, killing two of them. In a similar incident at Reasi district of Jammu, a minor came under the impact of landslide and died. Rains have resulted in closure of the Srinagarjammu highway again after it was partially restored on Saturday. Officials said fresh landslides in Ramban sector resulted in closure of the highway. The West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has finished the month-anda-half long survey it had launched to find the right candidates for the party to take on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the upcoming 2019 elections.
Sources in the Bengal BJP also said that the report of the survey has been forwarded to the Central BJP leadership and the Centre, after considering all factors, would select the candidates for the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The survey was conducted at the booth level across all the districts and Parliamentary constituencies to gauge the popularity of the candidates who are likely to be in the fray for the 2019 elections. From each district, the survey was headed by the district presidents who were responsible for conducting an impartial survey and report to the state leadership about candidates and perception of the party in their district. On the other hand, the Central leadership of the BJP had also conducted an independent survey in several areas of the state to understand where the popularity of the party stands and what needs to be done for the party to take on the TMC government led by Mamata Banerjee.
A senior party functionary from West Bengal told this newspaper, “Apart from the report given to the Centre by the state, the Central leadership has also conducted an independent survey across the state, whose report has already been submitted to the Central leadership. Findings from both these reports would be studied and would be used to chalk out the strategies that the party would take during the campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections due later this year.” Party sources also confirmed that new entrants like Soumitra Khan, Mousumi Chatterjee, veteran actor Biswajeet Chatterjee, former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh are among the candidates who are likely to get tickets for the Lok Sabha polls. A senior party leader said: “The leaders who have joined the party recently are very popular faces and have a very strong mass appeal among the people of Bengal. The party is likely to give them tickets as it believes they can garner significant votes for the party. Apart from this, several other factors, including the winnability factor of the candidate, is being taken into account when ticket distribution is made.” The BJP is expecting to win 22 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal as the party has been able to make inroads in Bengal.
The survey has also indicated that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah are popular among the the youth and first-time voters. The state leadership has put in a request with the top leadership that the two of them should campaign in the state as much as possible.