The Union home minister Amit Shah will kick off his first rally in Bengal tomorrow.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the announcement of Lok Sabha election schedule, has held two public rallies in the state. Earlier, he addressed four rallies in Bengali even before the announcement of the election.
Amit Shah has not yet campaigned in the state for the LS polls. According to BJP sources, the Union home minister will kick off his first rally in Bengal on Wednesday. State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar will accompany him, starting their campaign from Balurghat constituency. Shah will address a rally at Buniaadpur Vidhan Sabha premises, under the Balurghat Lok Sabha centre at noon on Wednesday. After his rally in Bengal, Mr Shah will head for Gaya, Bihar. Last, Shah had come to Bengal in November and December, but his rallies were cancelled. There were talks of his visit to Mayapur’s ISKCON temple. However, that itinerary was also cancelled. This time, Shah will start his campaign from Sukanta’s Lok Sabha constituency tomorrow, the second phase as the election is scheduled for 26 April. Although the BJP leaders in Bengal did not officially comment on why Shah’s rally in February was cancelled, sources in the party said that due to the ongoing violence in the state, Shah’s visit was postponed.
Moreover, local leaders did not want any central leader to visit Bengal during that time. They were almost on the streets every day, escalating the movement against the ruling government. So when Shah came to the state at that time, he had to engage in busy schedules with state leadership. As a result, he could have been at risk of being sidelined in their agitation. On the other hand, in January, after the foundation stone laying ceremony of Ram Lalla’s temple in Ayodhya, Shah was supposed to visit Mayapur’s ISKCON temple but he did not come. It was also heard that he would visit Krishna temple in Mayapur. After visiting the temple, he was supposed to hold meetings with the local leadership of Ranaghat and surrounding areas, but that was also cancelled.