State Polls Done & Dusted, BJP to Shift Focus to Bengal for 2024; TMC Mocks ‘Winter Tourism’

The BJP will turn its focus to Bengal for the Lok Sabha battle of 2024 once the state election results are announced on Sunday, sources in the party’s state unit told News18.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Bengal on December 24 for a mega ‘Gita Path’ at Brigade parade ground, essentially kicking off the party’s agenda in the state.

Party insiders say that the fact that Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting on November 29 in central Kolkata’s Dharmatala despite his tight poll campaigning schedule showed how critical Bengal was for the party.

In 2019, BJP won 18 seats in the state in the biggest-ever jump for the party. Even though they lost the assembly polls in 2018, party insiders say they performed well in North Bengal.

Sources say the BJP wants to repeat its 2019 performance. As Shah has given them a target of 35 seats in Lok Sabha, Bengal BJP workers want to work hard and the central leadership has assured them of all support.

A senior BJP MP told News18: “In 2018, we did not have a strong organisation. But after 2019, we have a strong presence in almost all booths so we are better prepared.”

It is expected that starting from December, all big shots of the party will start ground work for the Lok Sabha polls. Apart from Modi, Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda and other central ministers will hold major meetings, specifically in North Bengal.

Though considered BJP’s stronghold, the party did not perform well in North Bengal in the panchayat elections and they lost Dhupguri by-election to TMC.

In his speech in Kolkata, Shah had also said that “give more votes to BJP this time so that the prime minister can say he has become PM again due to Bengal”. A nonchalant TMC, meanwhile, called the visits of the BJP leaders a “tourism package for winters”.