BJP Pres. JP Nadda to address 2 rallies in West Bengal

BJP president JP Nadda will address two rallies in West Bengal on Sunday, where his party is gearing up for panchayat elections.

This will be Nadda's second visit to the state in a month. He visited West Bengal on 19 January. “He is due to arrive on Saturday night. He will address a public meeting at Purbasthali in Purba Bardhaman on Sunday and then another at Kanthi in Purba Medinipur,” said BJP general secretary Jagannath Chattopadhyay.

Nadda will also hold an organizational meeting with state BJP officials.

The BJP lost the Bardhaman Purba and Kanthi Lok Sabha seats to the Trinamool Congress in the 2019 elections. Kanthi is the hometown of the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari. Naddy's programs are part of the BJP central leadership's 'Pravas' campaign to strengthen its organization in the country's 144 Lok Sabha seats, which the party lost by a narrow margin in the 2019 elections.

Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address 12 assemblies over the next few months covering 24 Lok Sabha seats in the state, which the party lost in the last elections. The BJP won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2019 polls. However, the ruling Trinamool Congress refused to attach much importance to Nadda's visit. “As the rural polls approach, BJP leaders will come more often but it will not bring any result. We have seen central BJP leaders camping in West Bengal ahead of the 2021 assembly polls, but the party faced defeats,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

Nadda's visit to West Bengal comes at a time when the party is trying to strengthen its organizational machinery ahead of the panchayat elections. The BJP has been plagued by infighting and defections after the results of the 2021 general elections were announced. Former Union minister Babul Supriyo, party MP Arjun Singh and six legislators, including national vice-president Mukul Roy, have defected to the TMC since the 2021 assembly elections. The TMC came to power for the third consecutive term, winning 215 seats in the assembly, while the BJP won 77 seats.