Amit Shah to visit Bengal on 17 April to meet state leaders

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to visit West Bengal on 17 April, in his first trip to the state since the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) decimation by TMC in the state Assembly election of 2021.

The state BJP unit is hoping that his visit will infuse fresh morale into the state cadre, which has been still recovering from the losses in the 2021 election and from the poor performance in the civic polls earlier this year. The Home Minister is scheduled to participate in various government programmes, and the state BJP unit said that he would meet all elected party MLAs, which will be followed by a meeting with senior leaders and core committee members in the state capital.

The West Bengal BJP chief and Lok Sabha MP Sukanta Majumdar told news media: “We still haven’t received an official confirmation from the ministry. But since he has government programmes to attend, we are requesting him to hold some party meetings. It will be a big boost for the state unit. He will meet all MLAs as well as MPs.”

Shah is expected to kickstart his itinerary in West Bengal by first inspecting the Tin Bhiga corridor in Cooch Behar district — a strip of Indian land leased to Bangladesh to connect the country with its only remaining enclave in India, Dahagram-Angarpota. Shah, during his visit, is also likely to flag off the Mitali Express between West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri station and Dhaka in Bangladesh.

Since the state elections, at least five sitting MLAs have left the party, while Union Minister Babul Supriyo too quit the BJP to join the ruling TMC.BJP’s position in the political landscape of West Bengal is far from stable and is often plagued with infighting. After the state elections, among the BJP’s tallest leaders, only the party president J.P. Nadda has visited Bengal once to take stock of the post-poll violence. Amit Shah is expected to hand-hold the state leaders on strategising to put their flock together and put the TMC on the back foot.

The Bengal BJP unit has already begun preparations for Shah’s visit and is hoping that his presence will enthuse the cadres ahead of the panchayat polls next year. The Ministry of Home Affairs is yet to release an official schedule of Shah’s West Bengal tour.