The visit, likely to take place at the end of June, is aimed at keeping up the pressure on the Mamata Banerjee government amid allegations of widespread political violence by her party.
New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah is all set to visit West Bengal’s Purulia district, where the deaths of two party workers in the last fortnight have been labeled as politically motivated murders by the BJP.
The visit, which is likely to take place at the end of this month, is aimed at keeping up the pressure on Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal amid allegations of widespread political violence by her party, the Trinamool Congress, especially during last month’s panchayat polls.
Sources said the BJP had decided to use the workers’ deaths as a pivot for its grassroots outreach and hoped to ride a sympathy wave to make inroads into the state ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
On his visit, Shah will reportedly visit the houses of the two BJP workers.
“The political violence is blatant. Our workers were hanged and a message left… warning others of the same consequence if they continue with the BJP. The cadre is not bogged down. We… will fight their criminal politics,” said a senior BJP leader.
The BJP has alleged that the Trinamool Congress is using the force of the state machinery to coerce party members who won in the recent panchayat polls to either join them or leave the post.
“There are approximately 500 workers who were shifted out of West Bengal to other states like Jharkhand to save them from Trinamool Congress goons,” BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya had said earlier.
The Trinamool Congress has denied any role in the BJP workers’ deaths, saying they could be the fallout of a fight between “BJP affiliates” or the doing of Maoists.
Shah had undertaken a similar initiative in Kerala, where violence between Left and BJP supporters has taken a heavy toll on both sides.
The BJP has been trying to make inroads into West Bengal since the decimation of the Left in 2011 created space for an opposition force.
Plans in place for Delhi too
BJP general secretary Ram Lal has asked party leaders to stage protests in Delhi from 18-26 June against the death of the BJP workers in West Bengal.
“Everyone watches Delhi and news from here is shown everywhere in the country. This is to send a message across to our cadres in Bengal that the central leadership and Delhi is with them. It will boost their confidence,” said a senior BJP leader.
The party will also distribute literature on political violence — divided in four parts, it will seek to detail “violence to stop the BJP during campaigning, polling, counting of votes, and after results”.