Continuing on his agenda to take stock of the BJP West Bengal unit’s preparedness for the Assembly polls scheduled early next year, Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday held a meeting with the party’s public representatives, past and present, at a hotel in Salt Lake here.
Shah also held a closed-door meeting with BJP leaders, ministers, MLAs and even candidates, who had lost in the last Assembly elections, setting an ambitious target of winning 200 seats in the next West Bengal Assembly polls. Addressing the gathering, Mr Shah asserted that the party’s growth trajectory made the target achievable. “We want 20 of the 28 seats in greater Kolkata. If we can move from three seats to 77, why can’t we go from 77 to 200?” he asked, urging leaders and workers to intensify grassroots mobilisation.
Repeatedly stressing the importance of mass outreach, the home minister called for coordinated efforts at every level of the organisation. “Connect one worker with another. Expand communication. Wake everyone up,” he said, directing party cadres to focus on door-to-door campaigns across Kolkata and its adjoining four districts. He specifically instructed leaders to visit households, listen to people’s grievances and build sustained personal contact with voters.
The party’s former state president, Dilip Ghosh, who has largely stayed away from the forefront of BJP’s activities in the state over the past several months, was also invited to the closed-door meeting attended by the party’s MPs, MLAs, civic body councillors and organisational portfolio holders. The state president of the party, Samik Bhattacharya, and the state’s Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, were also among the leaders present.
Although it wasn’t immediately known what transpired in the meeting, a senior party leader said that the invitees are likely to receive tickets for the upcoming elections, and Shah, considered BJP’s chief poll strategist, wanted to listen to these leaders about the campaign roadmap and share his thoughts with them.
Mr Shah also expressed concern over law and order, remarking that Kolkata was “not safe”, and accused the ruling Trinamul Congress of betraying its promise of “maa, mati, manush”. “The mother is under threat, and infiltration is rampant,” he alleged, calling on BJP workers to counter this narrative through direct engagement with citizens. Making his expectations clear, the home minister said aspirants seeking party tickets would have to prove their merit. However, party sources indicated that several candidates who had lost their constituencies earlier may be considered again in the upcoming elections.
“Everyone in the party is energised. We will win the 2026 polls and bring about true change in this state,” Adhikari told reporters before walking into the meeting. On Tuesday, Shah set the tone for the high-stakes Assembly polls, and launched a broadside against Mamata Banerjee, accusing her government of “dangerously altering” the state’s demography by abetting the infiltration of Bangladeshis for electoral gains and indulging in widespread corruption.
Shah visited Thanthania Kali Temple in central Kolkata before departing for Delhi.
Reacting to the call by Mr Shah, TMC spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumdar said: “They have been making hollow claims for a long time, saying ‘we will win’, ‘we will fight’, ‘we will form the government this time’. In the end, they are losing badly and ending up empty-handed. Such statements carry no value. The entire party is suffering from frustration.”