The electoral battle for West Bengal, due early next year, is being truly joined, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself holding meetings with BJP MPs from the State through this week and the next.
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Mr. Modi has called the MPs for feedback meetings, posing them pointed questions. Sources confirmed that Raju Bista, Saumitra Khan, Locket Chatterjee and Jyotirmay Mahto and Dilip Ghosh, who is also the BJP chief in the State, have already met Mr. Modi.
The BJP has 18 Lok Sabha members from West Bengal.
“There are two basic questions that Mr. Modi has been asking the MPs: what is the situation in your area and what are the issues that need to be flagged going into the polls,” said an MP who met him.
“He also asked about the implementation of Central government schemes in the State as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has not implemented Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi,” said the source.
PM’s swipe at Trinamool
On his recent visit to Kolkata, Mr. Modi said at a public event that lack of “cut money” was probably the reason the Trinamool Congress government was desisting from implementing the welfare schemes.
While the Bihar Assembly election is looming large, in October-November, it is instructive that Mr. Modi is deeply involved in West Bengal.
Home Minister Amit Shah is said to be reserving at least one or two days a month for visiting West Bengal.
The BJP emerged as the second largest party in the State in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, and is determined to capture what has been an elusive prize so far. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act is a major issue as the State shares a boundary with Bangladesh, and there are varying estimates of the number of people eligible for citizenship under the Act.