KANTHI: In his new avatar, Suvendu Adhikari hit home turf Kanthi with a bang, giving BJP a home-grown slogan — ‘Hare Krishna Hare Hare, BJP Ghare Ghare’ — that would touch the Vaishnavites in East Midnapore more than the party’s central ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan.
Suvendu’s next big rally is at Nandigram on January 8, a day after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee holds a public meeting there. “I know the CM will tell many things about me in Nandigram on January 7. I will give my reply the next day. I approached BJP Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya and have got the go-ahead to hold the Nandigram rally,” he said. Prior to this, the new BJP leader will hold a public meeting at West Midnapore’s Dantan on December 27.
On Thursday, people thronged the 5km BJP Yuva Morcha roadshow at Kanthi town. “Trinamool will come second in all 34 assembly seats in the two Midnapores in the coming polls. BJP will be the first party. I won’t rest without blooming lotus in the state,” Suvendu said on Thursday, adding that BJP will get more than 200 seats from Bengal. BJP leaders Jayprakash Majumdar and Soumitra Khan accompanied him on the roadshow.
Buoyant with the turnout, the new BJP leader hit back at Trinamool seniors Saugata Roy and Firhad Hakim, who criticised from a rally at Kanthi on Wednesday. “Let the man set his eyes on the television set and watch the rally,” he said, without naming Hakim.
Responding to Roy who called him a traitor, Suvendu said: “People living in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones at others. He didn’t do the right thing by divulging discussions in an internal meeting. I won’t do that because it is unethical.”
Suvendu’s father and Trinamool’s Sisir Adhikari led from all seven assembly segments under Kanthi Lok Sabha seat in 2019. BJP finished second. Trinamool now faces the challenge of retaining the seats while Suvendu is determined to wrest all seats in East Midnapore. “BJP has a strong presence in Kanthi. Now, BJP will be the first party,” Suvendu said.