With an eye on the next Lok Sabha Polls, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has planned to strengthen its organisation from booth level ahead of panchayat polls scheduled to be held in West Bengal in early 2023.
Party sources said the state BJP has also planned to kick start its preparatory meeting from north Bengal, where the BJP had bagged seven Lok Sabha seats of the eight.
“Newly-appointed party observer Sunil Bansal, co-observer Asha Lakhra and state BJP president Sukanta Majumder will hold a meeting with the party leaders from Siliguri, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in Siliguri on 6 November,” said Siliguri organizational district president Anandamay Barman.
“This is the first preparatory meeting to be held in Siliguri. Party observers and state leadership will hold 19 such meetings inviting the leaders of 42 organizational districts in West Bengal,” said Mr Barman, who is an MLA from Matigara Naxalbari Assembly Constituency in Darjeeling district.
It may be noted here that though the BJP had bagged two Assembly seats Matigara-Naxalbari and Phansidewa, the Trinamool Congress came to power in recently ended three-tier rural polls within the area of Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad in Darjeeling district.
Trinamool Congress had bagged eight seats of the nine of the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad.
Notably, the state government has planned to hold two tier rural polls , which is pending over two decades, in Darjeeling Hills comprising Kalimpong district, within the jurisdiction of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).
When asked to comment on poor results on rural polls in Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad polls, BJP MLA Barman said, “Generally results go in favour of the ruling party during civic body polls since state machineries work for them. Peace loving voters do not go against ruling party leaders as well as state machineries.”
“We have been able to ensure at least 25 per cent votes and more, where party’s dedicated workers in booth level showed their strength during polls. In fact, the ruling party couldn’t loot votes there,” he added.
Notably, a large number of voters were allegedly deprived of their voting right in the last rural polls held in 2018 and many of them took revenge and went against Trinamool Congress in Lok Sabha polls in 2019 in North Bengal, according to political observers.
Taking a cue from the Lok Sabha results, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has recently alerted party leaders in north Bengal regarding those allegations against his party.
Keeping an eye on the three-tier Panchayat polls, the state government will organise ‘Duare Sarkar’ (Government at your doorstep) across West Bengal to provide state sponsored schemes for the beneficiaries from 1 November and it would continue till December this year.
According to Barman, the party would highlight massive scam during the tenure of TMC led state, especially scam in teachers’ recruitment, underdevelopment issues and deprivation issues in North Bengal, for three tier rural poll campaign.
When asked to comment on the proposed Union Territory, which is a centre of discussion in northern Bengal, Barman said, “The Centre will decide it. Following the line of J&K the Centre can do it. But I don’t have exact information about how and when it would be executed.”
As the leader of the Opposition in state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, once pointed out that both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections will be held in Bengal in 2024, the Siliguri organisational district president Anandamay Barman said, “Based on the theme of “One Nation One Election” it can be executed. Not only West Bengal but seven to eight other states also may come under the idea. If those states like West Bengal do not sacrifice, how can it be implemented?”