On the final day of his visit to Kolkata, Union Home Minister Amit Shah sought to build momentum amongst Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in West Bengal, to take on the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. Taking forward the message from his press conference on Tuesday, Shah sounded the poll bugle with his outreach to party workers, to implement the promise of forming the state government in April next year. Amit Shah urged them to work towards securing a BJP victory across the state by April.
Shah’s meeting on Wednesday with senior state BJP leaders and Bengal observers Sunil Bansal, Bhupendra Yadav, Biplab Deb and Amit Malviya, had a twist. The presence of Dilip Ghosh, former state president signalled a comeback as an important face in the forefront of the Bengal unit. “He called me to listen to what he has to say," said Dilip Ghosh after the meeting, choosing not to reveal too much information.
Apart from this meeting, Shah held a separate meeting with Dilip Ghosh, former state president, Samik Bhattacharya, the current state president and Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the Opposition which appeared to be a message to keep infighting at bay and work as a consolidated force till the election season in April. MLAs too were asked to remain active in their constituencies, with frequent visits during the week. They have to help the BJP win and work together. The Union Minister was later seen offering prayers at Thanthania Kali temple in North Kolkata before departing from Kolkata.
The TMC was quick to hit out at Shah's meetings with senior leaders and party workers, including Dilip Ghosh. “The BJP is in a pathetic state. The current state BJP president, Samik Bhattacharya replaced Sukanta Majumdar six months ago but, the state committee is yet to be formed” said TMC leader Jay Prakash Majumdar.
“In this background, Amit Shah came for election preparation to give vocal tonic to the remaining part of some leaders of BJP.”
TMC called Shah’s meeting with Ghosh as an act of desperation. The inclusion of Dilip Ghosh, who was previously sidelined from organizational affairs, indicating the BJP's leaders are out of ideas", said Majumder.
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On Shah’s assurance to the Hindu minority Matua community that names not being deleted from the current Special Intensive Revision(SIR) list, TMC says the saffron party’s Hindu appeasement plan has backfired on the BJP. Their narrative regarding infiltrators, has led to the deletion of names of Matuas, Namasudras and refugees, resulting in their earlier Hindu vote bank turning against them, said the TMC leader.
This is simply a damage control mechanism by Amit Shah which shows he is aware that there has been huge damage to the BJP’s prospects," added Majumder.
Shah’s presence in West Bengal while sending out a message to his party leaders to up the ante, signals the BJP ending the year on a powerful note and confident of the might of the Bengal unit to unsettle the TMC.
