A Sheet To Excel In

Amit Shah hatches a few plans to break into Bengal.

- Dola Mitra in Calcutta

  

THE BJP’s brute, clean majority in the parliamentary elections of 2014 was achieved without much success in West Bengal— it won only two of the state’s 42 seats. So, when BJP president Amit Shah trumpeted at a public rally during a recent visit to the state that the party would gain over 20 seats in 2019 and win at least 22, it raised eyebrows and curled lips.

But some believe that Shah does indeed have a foolproof pre-election strategy— something known to swing the most resistant of electorates towards the BJP.

“Shah is focusing on strengthening the organisation at the grassroots, which has been the BJP’s weakest point in these states,” says political commentator Tarun Ganguly. A BJP insider confirmed this, “Workers are being sent door to door to win the confidence of voters,” he tells Outlook.

“For the BJP in Bengal, leadership is not the issue. What was lacking was ground strength…. We are going all out to address the lacuna. This is the only way to take on the ruling party,” says BJP leader Chandra Kumar Bose.