WB BJP's brainstorming session in Delhi to assess organisational strength ahead of state polls

The BJP central leadership has been conducting a brainstorming session with the top brass of its Bengal unit to assess the party's organisational strength and weakness ahead of the 2021 assembly polls.

The four-day-long meeting began in Delhi on Thursday and will continue till Sunday.

"The meeting will be held in multiple stages. All the aspects of our organisation in the state -- both strengths and areas where we need to improve -- are being discussed," BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said.

The first round of meetings were being held between Ghosh, state general secretaries, national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, Arvind Menon and BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh to assess the BJP's organisational strength in the Assembly segments.

According to state BJP sources, more than 100 out of 294 assembly seats have been reviewed so far.

"We have been asked to consolidate our support base among SCs, STs, OBCs and in areas where we have made huge inroads during the last Lok Sabha polls," a senior BJP leader said.

West Bengal BJP leaders are also likely to hold a meeting with party national president J P Nadda later this week.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Mukul Roy, who was in Delhi for the meeting, returned to Kolkata on Friday. Roy claimed that he was not aware the meeting would continue for three-four days and he has an appointment with a doctor to attend.

To this, Dilip Ghosh said everybody was informed about the schedule of the meeting in advance.

The meeting comes at a time when Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee Thursday carried out a major organisational reshuffle by inducting several new faces and axing some old guards, with the thrust of the changes on toning up the party in areas where it has yielded ground to the BJP. West Bengal is scheduled to go on polls in April-May next year with Banerjee completing a decade in office.

The leadership changes within the TMC were expected amid a growing challenge from the BJP, which has emerged as the main opposition party by winning 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019, bringing down the TMC's tally to 22 from 34. 

(image from PTI)