Amit Shah to visit Kolkata in March to decide Bengal civic poll strategy

Details of Shah’s schedule is yet to be decided but efforts are being made to organize a public meeting on March 1, BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu said on Saturday evening.

Union home minister Amit Shah will be in Kolkata on March 1 to decide the line of a campaign to be followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the coming civic polls.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Friday.(PTI PHOTO.)

Since Shah said in Delhi on Friday that comments made by some BJP leaders on the agitation at Shaheen Bagh may have had an effect on the Delhi assembly polls, speculations are rife among the leadership in Bengal that he may prescribe some guidelines for them. The crucial Bengal assembly polls will be held in 2021.

Details of Shah’s schedule is yet to be decided but efforts are being made to organize a public meeting on March 1, BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu said on Saturday evening.

Bengal BJP leaders held a closed-door meeting with heads of all fronts and cells during the day to frame an organizational strategy for the civic polls. A decision was taken to form committees for every polling booth.

“The number of members in each committee will depend on our strength in that area,” said a senior BJP office-bearer who attended the meeting but did not want to be named. Polls will be held in 108 municipalities and seven corporations. He said the target will be to have as many as 20 people in each committee.

“The line of the campaign will be decided by central and state leaders later. As of now, we will continue with our campaign in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Since microphones cannot be used for one month because of the ongoing board examinations we will conduct a door-to-door campaign,” said the leader mentioned earlier.

Trinamool Congress leaders said the state government is likely to approach the state election commission after March 10 and request it to declare the elections. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has entrusted six top leaders to supervise the party’s poll machinery.