Eye on 2021 Assembly Polls, BJP Chief JP Nadda to Visit Bengal for Two Days from December 8

Kolkata: BJP national president JP Nadda will be visiting Bengal for two days next week to take stock of party activities before the 2021 assembly polls. Nadda would assess the party’s plans and preparations on December 8 and 9 in Kolkata, Howrah, North and South 24 Parganas districts, a state BJP leader said on Thursday.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh had last month said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Nadda would be visiting the state every month till the Assembly elections are over. Nadda had paid a day-long visit to north Bengal in October, while Shah was in the state for two days in November.

After having a limited presence in the politically polarised Bengal for decades, the BJP emerged as the main rival of the ruling TMC in the 2019 general election, winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. With the saffron party growing from strength to strength in the state over the last few years, its leaders are upbeat that the party will be able to end Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s 10-year rule.

Elections to the 294-member state Assembly are likely in April-May next year.