Kolkata: The sound of drum beats and conch shells and shower of flower petals greeted Home Minister Amit Shah at the West Bengal BJP headquarters, Friday night. Shah is in Kolkata for Saturday’s Eastern Zonal Council meet and Friday’s visit was his first ever to the party’s 6, Murlidhar Sen Lane address.
Shah’s non-scheduled stop at the BJP party office on the sidelines of the Easter Zonal Council meet infused palpable enthusiasm in the cadres, as they waited beyond the tight security barricades around the Home Minister.
There was loud cheering as Shah entered the party office and waved to the karyakartas. The senior BJP leader also chaired a key meeting with top 18 party leaders from the state, including state chief Dr Sukanta Majumdar, leader of opposition in the West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh, minister of state (MoS), Home, Nisith Pramanik, Bengal observer Mangal Pandey, in-charge Sunil Bansal and some MPs and MLAs.
“So far, even party president, J.P. Nadda hasn’t (ever) visited the BJP headquarters in Bengal, but today marks a first for Amit Shah. When he was the party president he hadn’t come to this office, but today when he is a key Union minister and has much more responsibilities on his plate, he’s visiting this small party office here in Kolkata,” said a BJP worker, after greeting Shah with a bouquet of flowers.
On a two-day visit to Kolkata, Shah is scheduled to chair the Eastern Zonal Council meet at the West Bengal State Secretariat, Nabanna, at 10:30am Saturday. The Eastern Zonal Council comprises West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Sikkim and the Chief Ministers, ministers and senior bureaucrats from all five states are expected to attend Saturday’s meeting, where discussions on inter-state and international border security are on the agenda.
This is the first time, the Union Home Minister will come face-to-face with West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, since the BJP was routed in the Bengal assembly election by Banerjee’s party last year.
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Enquiries about BJP, TMC
Sources within the BJP told ThePrint that in his 25-minute closed-door meeting at the party headquarters in Bengal, Shah took stock of the Bengal unit.
MoS (education) Dr Subhas Sarkar told the media at the party office that the leaders briefed Shah about the present scenario in the state, including corruption allegations against the ruling TMC, such as the alleged school recruitment scam and PM awas yojna irregularities.
“Amit Shah is aware of the corruption in the state. He said the Centre is keeping track and we also briefed him. We spoke about the political situation, that BJP is the only opposition here in West Bengal. He has told us to strengthen the organisation further”, said Sarkar after the meeting.
While Amit Shah asked the BJP leaders to strengthen the party’s organisation right from the booth level, sources in the meeting said that he also enquired about rival and ruling party in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress. A leader at the party office on condition of anonymity said, “Amit Shah asked what’s the situation within the TMC and also asked whether Muslim votes will be divided during the upcoming (2023) panchayat polls.”
Sources in the meeting also said Shah did not interfere in or mention the rumoured differences between Adhikari and Ghosh. Adhikari and Ghosh have been exchanging jibes on camera, though both leaders have downplayed news of their differences.
“We are united, so there is no need for a message of unity from the Home Minister, the more important thing is that a sitting Home Minister visited this party office for the first time and that is crucial. Mangal Pandey, the observer for West Bengal will give a report to him on the upcoming panchayat poll preparations”, Dilip Ghosh told the media after the meeting.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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