Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (File) Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address at least 20 rallies in West Bengal during the campaigning for the Assembly polls, beginning from March 7 when he will address people at Kolkata’s Brigade ground.
Sources in the BJP said the PM is also likely to address five-six public rallies in Assam, which will witness a three-phase election.
Senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha said, “We had asked for around 30 rallies by Modiji. We are confident that he will at least address 20 rallies in the state.”
The PM had addressed around 12 rallies during the Bihar Assembly polls last year.
According to a senior party leader, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda are likely to address over 50 rallies each in West Bengal. Shah has been actively involved in the poll preparation in the state and flagged off the “Parivartan Yatras” here.
For PM Modi’s rally at Brigade Parade ground on March 7, the BJP has set a target of getting a crowd of at least 10 lakh. For this, the party has already began a door-to-door campaign requesting people to attend PM’s first rally since elections were announced. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh and senior party leader Kailash Vijayvargiya have visited the ground to monitor preparations.
Sources said some prominent personalities may join the party in the PM’s presence.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the Bengal BJP on Tuesday met the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). According to sources, they sought the Election Commission’s intervention to scrap “political appointments” in several offices, including the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. BJP alleges that the municipal polls are pending, boards have expired and it is being run by administrators elected by a political party. BJP alleged “misuse” of posts in corporations and municipalities..
“In Bengal, there are 124 municipalities and sixty corporation which are now being run by political appointees. No elections have taken place after the board expired. Because of the Covid-19 situation, no one objected to it then. So there are many who are not elected but enjoy all the facilities,” said BJP leader Mukul Roy.
“Corporation offices have become political party office. Several election related works are being carried out through these offices . They are issuing back dated work orders violating model code of conduct,” added BJP leader Sabyasachi Dutta. The party claimed that the CEO assured that the matter would be looked into.