The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set with an eye on the next general elections to begin its high profile campaign from February 2, claiming that it would prove to be a "game changer" in West Bengal politics.
It is expected that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fly down to West Bengal on February 2 to address two public rallies at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas and at Asansol, an industrial town of Burdwan where the Central Minister, Babul Supriya won the 2014 Parliament poll, the party sources said.
It is also expected, on February 8, the campaign for the coming Lok Sabha elections in the state is to began.
Apart from the Prime Minister and BJP Chief Amit Shah, several top BJP leaders and Chief Ministers those who will address the Saffron Party's rallies such as Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Nitin Gadkari, Dharmendra Pradhan Nirmala Sitharaman, Uma Bharati and Giriraj Singh, Shanawaj Hossain, Yogi Adityanath, Biplab Kumar Deb, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh.
On January 29, Biplab Deb, The Chief Minister of Tripura would address two rallies at Ghatal and Arambag in West Medinipur and Hooghly districts.
The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath is expected to campaign first at Bankura and then its neighbouring district of Purulia on February 3 before flying to north Bengal's Balurghat and Raigunj on February 5.
This is for the first time that the BJP has undertaken a political campaign of such huge magnitude in the state. The part witnessed significant electoral gains and has lately emerged as the main opposition party in the state.
In recent elections, the BJP made the most strident gains in backward districts that have nominal Muslim population, such as West Midnapore, Jhargram, Purulia and Bankura.
The party chief Amit Shah had set a target of winning 23 Lok Sabha seats out of 42 seats in the state. He said, in West Bengal alone, the party will win 23 of the state's with 42 seats. In 2014, only two seats were won by the BJP from West Bengal.
It is said by a senior BJP leader that in several by-elections held since the 2016 assembly polls, the BJP has emerged as the biggest competitor to the ruling Trinamool Congress by outsmarting the Communist Party of India Marxist and the Congress.
The party has already prepared a blue print and has also chalked out seats where the BJP's chances of winning is more than 60 to 70 percent. The seats are spread across north Bengal, south Bengal and tribal-dominated districts of Junglemahal, he said.
Some of the seats which the BJP will be targeting in the next Lok Sabha polls are Balurghat, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Malda North in north Bengal and Purulia, Jhargram, West Medinipur, Krishnagar, Howrah in south Bengal.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O' Brien on Sunday declared in Odisha that in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the party will contest in 14 states.
Trinamool Congress is a National Party. We have 34 MPs in the Lok Sabha and in the Rajya Sabha 13 MPs. We have taken a decision to fight elections in 14 states. In Manipur, we have been the chief opposition party. We had MLAs in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, he said.
Trinamool Congress means grassroot and we Trinamool Congress, do not do things in a hurry. We will put up candidates for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. When and where we will do that, this decision will be taken by the Trinamool Congress working committee.
Mr O'Brien said, the current situation of the country is dangerous. There is only big talk and nothing is happening. You know the numbers regarding unemployment. He said because of good governance, Trinamool Congress has won 211 seats in 2016. Now the ordinary people and every political party is saying '2019 BJP Finish'.