The ailing Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal has proposed an elaborate plan to “extensively” engage none other than the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resuscitate the party in the State. In the coming months, Mr. Modi will make “many appearances” in the State and the party president Amit Shah has informally approved the, says the president of the BJP in the State, Rahul Sinha.
Speaking exclusively to The Hindu, Mr. Sinha said that “it is a matter of time” before BJP gets the momentum back that it lost over last six months. It was after the monsoon, a year back, when BJP slowly peaked and emerged as the key Opposition party in the State, albeit outside the Assembly. The party had – in fact – independently won the first seat in the Assembly by-election in September. However, following an ostensible bonhomie between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and BJP, the saffron-party lost its steam in Bengal. But the party will soon be back, says Mr. Sinha.
“We have taken an elaborate plan to counter TMC after Diwali (in early November). As a part of the plan Mr. Modi will visit the State many times between November to April 2016, in the run up to the Assembly election,” Mr. Sinha said. Mr. Modi is expected to address nearly a dozen public meetings. “The numbers are not decided. It could be 10 or eight or even six but he will spend as much time as possible in the State and the party president Amit Shah has approved the plan without the itinerary,” Mr. Sinha said. Mr. Shah will also spend “substantial time” in the State and oversee the poll preparation.
Mr. Sinha countered the perception that BJP and TMC have developed “a mutually beneficial relationship” between them resulting in conspicuous slow-down of the investigation in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. “It is a media campaign that BJP and TMC have aligned in Bengal. The media even said that Mr. Modi and Ms. Banerjee had a long one-to-one meeting on May 9 in Kolkata before the joint public programme, but the allegation is baseless,” he added.
However, many in the rank and file of BJP believe that in order to ensure smooth passage of contentious Bills in the Parliament’s Upper House, BJP has reduced the pressure mounted on TMC a year back in the financial sca to which Mr. Sinha disagrees.
“Even if we get all the TMC MPs in Rajya Sabha the number would not exceed 12 and that is clearly not enough to get the Bills passed. So why would we seek their support in the Parliament?” he asks and answers, “We need to understand that it’s a long and complicated process and the Central Bureau of Investigation needs time to probe thoroughly before they act and BJP is not regulating the investigation.”
The sidelined TMC leader and MP Mukul Roy “may turn into an approver”, Mr. Sinha said.
Amit Shah has approved the plan without the itinerary: Rahul Sinha
