Election season is around the corner, and in the upcoming months, the state of Bihar will go to polls later this month. However, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is seen as BJP’s master-strategist, as far as election campaigning is concerned, is preparing for a bigger poll battle- the West Bengal Legislative Assembly polls. The State of West Bengal will go to polls in around six months from now, and Amit Shah has already taken matters in his own hands.
Amit Shah is focussing more on West Bengal than Bihar because the NDA poll strategy in Bihar is such that Nitish Kumar is going to be the campaign face, so there is no need for any heavy lifting on Shah’s part. Moreover, the state of West Bengal remains a final poll frontier for the BJP where it finally wants to come to power.
Therefore, West Bengal elections were the first political activity which Shah took up after recovering from COVID-19. He will visit the state of West Bengal later this month to address party workers in the state.
Amit Shah attended a meeting at BJP chief JP Nadda’s residence in the National Capital, where all party heavyweights, including Bengal BJP Chief Dilip Ghosh, newly elevated national Vice President Mukul Roy, Bengal-in-charge Kailash Vijaivargia, Bengal co-in-charge Arvind Menon, organisational leader Shiv Prakash, and state leader Rahul Sinha were also present.
According to Times Now, sources from the meeting at Nadda’s residence said that Shah is set to visit West Bengal before Durga Puja to send across a message to the people of the state. Even last year, Shah had visited West Bengal during Durga Puja and had also inaugurated pandals as a part of BJP’s outreach in the state. Durga Puja is the biggest festival in the state of West Bengal, and therefore, there is no better time for the BJP to kickstart its poll preparations.
The proactive role that Amit Shah has taken up here makes it clear that Shah will be the main force guiding BJP’s Bengal election strategy. The fact remains that even during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it was Shah who led BJP to an impressive performance in West Bengal. There was a time when BJP had no real base in West Bengal, but during the 2019 General Elections, the party won 18 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats- a massive jump from the two seats that it had won in 2014.
In fact, Amit Shah has ensured an upwards trajectory for BJP in the West Bengal. During the General Elections last year, BJP garnered a vote share of 40.64 per cent- merely 3 per cent less than that of the TMC. Therefore, the BJP seems to have decided to persist with Amit Shah in the state of West Bengal.
Moreover, West Bengal has almost always been on Amit Shah’s mind post the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Towards, the fag end of last year, it was reported that the Union Home Minister was learning Bangla in a bid to ensure that language doesn’t become a barrier while formulating a poll strategy for West Bengal.
Earlier this year, Shah also brought up the issue of Mamata Banerjee’s opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) during a West Bengal virtual rally. Shah said, “It will cost you dearly. What is your problem if Namshudras and other such communities live respectfully in the country? People of Bengal are asking you this question as well. You will have to answer.”
Mamata Ji needs to come clean on why she is opposing the CAA. What is your problem if Namshudras and other such communities live respectfully in the country?
People of Bengal are asking you this question as well. You will have to answer: Shri @AmitShah ji #BanglarJanasamabesh
— Debasree Chaudhuri (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DebasreeBJP) June 9, 2020
Shah is the face of BJP when it comes to the CAA, and if the BJP tries to make an election issue out of the historic legislation, Amit Shah will have to be the one leading the party campaign in West Bengal.
Moreover, the BJP has been clear in its approach- it seems that the party will not project a Chief Ministerial face during West Bengal elections, which again means a central role for the Union Home Minister. Amit Shah is therefore at the helm of affairs all over again as the BJP prepares for an intense poll campaign in West Bengal, something that he will confirm by visiting the poll-bound state just ahead of Durga Puja.
