The West Bengal BJP has more than 54 lakh members across the state, according to party officials. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh told mediapersons that the party unit was set to become the largest in India after UP.
“We are now placed just behind UP. Our aim would be to become the number one unit in India,” said Ghosh today.
Once the membership drive is over, Ghosh said, both Amit Shah and working president J.P. Nadda will visit the state for assembly election preparations.
“The date for their arrival has not been fixed yet,” Ghosh said, when asked about Shah’s visit to the state.
A two-day meeting of a BJP think tank took place in Durgapur in West Bengal, where selected members participated along with two central in-charges—Arvind Menon and Shivprakash.
There were brainstorming sessions with members of the party, who have been asked to visit every corner of the state. The sessions witnessed some stormy scenes as a section of party members raised the issue of internal rivalry in the party. Both Menon and Shivprakash categorically said rivalry would not be allowed in the party.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as advised by election strategist Prashant Kishor, has asked her party leaders to stay at the party workers’ houses in different parts of the state and hold dinner sessions with them. Senior leaders like Partha Chatterjee, C.M. Jatua and others have already started visiting the houses of the workers to have lunch or dinner.
Ghosh said this was taken from the BJP playbook. "In fact, Prashant Kishor learned this from the BJP when he was helping our party’s election drive. So, it is good that he is using that for the TMC. But I feel bad to see the condition of Mamata Banerjee. She has lost all wisdom,” said Ghosh.
BJP leaders said the chintan baithak has targeted around 200 seats for BJP in the upcoming assembly elections. “We have decided to fix the target. We would like to cross 200 so that we can form the government comfortably. It’s our endeavour to form the government,” he said.
