BJP in West Bengal: The West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has not been able to complete the BJP membership campaign started by the Centre. In such a situation, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has asked BJP to find a charismatic face to give a tough competition to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the 2026 assembly elections.
The BJP membership campaign has exposed the internal strife and weaknesses of West Bengal and the BJP. At the same time, RSS also expressed its displeasure over the failure of State President Sukant Majumdar and Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Suvendu Adhikari. RSS said that they should take lessons from Mamata Banerjee’s political career and present a new face against her.
Bring a new face before 2026
An article published in ‘Swastik’, the RSS’s unofficial Bengali mouthpiece, said it took almost two decades for Mamata Banerjee to become a credible face against the Left Front, which had ruled the state since 1977. It said that in the year 2021, BJP had presented its face against TMC supremo – Suvendu Adhikari, who has completed four years so far, but the people of West Bengal want a credible face against Mamata Banerjee. BJP will have to find a face before its litmus test – the assembly elections to be held in 2026.
BJP could connect only 40 lakhs
Till last Saturday (January 4, 2025), it has been able to connect only 40 lakh people in West Bengal. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had set a target of making at least one crore members during the Kolkata visit on 27 October.
Shamik Bhattacharya was entrusted with the responsibility of membership campaign.
Shamik Bhattacharya, a BJP member in the Rajya Sabha, was given the responsibility of coordinating the membership campaign across West Bengal. He made headlines by getting the bride BJP membership while attending a wedding ceremony. Regarding the campaign, Sukant Majumdar had said that the party has made 40 lakh members in the state and by January 10, this number will cross the figure of 50 lakh.
Also read- After Karnataka-Gujarat, now two new cases of HMPV virus surfaced in Chennai.