New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to visit West Bengal on a three-day visit beginning May 4, his first since the 2021 state election, according to party sources on Tuesday, news agency PTI reported.
Sukanta Majumdar, state BJP president, said Shah is expected to visit the state on May 4-6 and meet with state party officials, in addition to attending certain official engagements.
"He will also participate in party programmes in north Bengal, meet party leaders and hold organisational meetings in south Bengal," Majumdar was quoted by PTI in its report.
Shah is also expected to meet with party MLAs and MPs from the state.
"The visit is quite important as this will be Amit Shah Ji's first visit to the state after last year's assembly poll. He is likely to give us a direction and a roadmap for the panchayat poll next year," a senior BJP leader said.
The scheduled visit by Shah is particularly significant since the state BJP unit is beset by infighting and desertion and is still licking its wounds following the assembly election setback.
Several prominent BJP leaders are embroiled in feuds on and off social media, leaving little time for the party's growth.
The BJP state branch has been working hard to keep its flock together since former union minister Babul Supriyo and five lawmakers, including national vice-president Mukul Roy, defected to the TMC following the assembly election results last year.
Despite a high-pitched poll campaign ahead of the state election, the saffron party only managed to secure 77 seats.
The Trinamool Congress, led by the fiery Mamata Banerjee, swept back to power for the third election in a row on the platform of 'Bengali Pride,' winning 213 seats by constructing a poll narrative of sub-nationalism to oppose and trounce the BJP's identity politics.
(With PTI Inputs)