Kolkata, Sep 24 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya are scheduled to meet BJP national president Nitin Nabin in Delhi on Thursday evening to discuss civic poll preparations and other issues, with government-organisation coordination high on the agenda.
Union minister and Lok Sabha MP from Bengal, Sukanta Majumdar, and the party’s state in-charge, Sunil Bansal, are also likely to be present at the meeting.
The meeting comes at a politically significant juncture for the BJP, which stormed to power in West Bengal earlier this year after 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule and is now preparing for its first major electoral test in urban areas.
Party sources said the central leadership is keen to ensure that there is no disconnect between the administration, the state organisation and workers at the grassroots, particularly as the government settles into office and the party begins preparations for the forthcoming municipal elections.
Bhattacharya, who heads the state unit, has the task of rebuilding and strengthening the organisation from the booth level, while Adhikari, as chief minister, faces the challenge of translating the party’s political mandate into governance while keeping the organisation and its cadre connected with government welfare initiatives.
Majumdar, who holds a Union ministerial portfolio, is expected to play an important role in maintaining coordination between the Centre, the state government and the party organisation.
The BJP’s central leadership has been keenly monitoring the functioning of the new government as well as the party’s organisational preparedness, particularly ahead of the civic elections.
The State Election Commission has said elections to the Kolkata and Howrah municipal corporations and six other civic bodies will be completed by December 7.
The electoral exercise will be based on the electoral roll published on July 1.
The BJP has already begun preparations for the civic polls, with separate committees formed for Kolkata and Howrah.
Majumdar has been given charge of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation election, while Rajya Sabha MP Rahul Sinha is overseeing the Howrah contest.
The municipal battle is expected to be particularly important for the BJP as Kolkata and Howrah represent a different political and organisational challenge from the largely Assembly-centric campaign that brought the party to power.
The Kolkata civic body is also undergoing a major restructuring, with the number of wards likely to be increased from 144 to 209, while Howrah’s wards would go up from 50 to 68 following delimitation.
Bhattacharya has already made the state unit’s position clear that the BJP is capable of contesting the Kolkata and Howrah civic polls on its own strength.
He has also ruled out, at the state level, any immediate seat-sharing arrangement with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), although he has maintained that the final decision on alliances rests with the central leadership.
That position makes the Delhi meeting particularly relevant, as the BJP prepares to convert its Assembly victory into an organisational and electoral presence in the two major municipal corporations.
“The party’s approach also reflects a broader transition — from fighting as an opposition force for more than a decade to managing the responsibilities of government while simultaneously expanding its organisational footprint,” a senior state BJP leader said.
Party sources said the meeting could also take stock of preparations for the civic polls, including the broad strategy and principles for candidate selection. PTI PNT MNB
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