Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah asked Friday the BJP state unit in West Bengal to strengthen the party organisation. He said that it is the only way to put up a fight against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal. Amit Shah conducted an internal closed-door party meeting. He referred to demands for imposing President’s Rule in the state and said it was not the ‘proper way’ to fight the TMC government.
“Amit Shah Ji has said that the party will grow only on the strength of its organisation. The party needs to be strengthened at the grassroots level. He also gave the example of states where the BJP has come to power after toiling for years in the opposition,” a senior BJP leader said on condition of anonymity after the meeting ended.
“Ami Shah counselled that when the party is in opposition, it has to face a lot of challenges, and the party has to face those challenges,” the leader added.
Another BJP leader said that Shah also said that the TMC government has come to power with such a huge mandate and that too, just a year ago. So the demands for imposing Article 355 and Article 356 were not justified ‘as this is not the way to deal with an elected government’. He also said that the minister asked West Bengal BJP leaders to fight on their own against the misrule of the TMC and not just depend on Delhi.
The BJP leader also claimed that Shah also spoke in the same vein about repeated demands of CBI intervention in various cases. He said, ‘CBI functions independently and works as per the law’.
According to sources, Shah also asked party workers to put up a united fight against the ‘misrule’ of the TMC and unmask the ‘corruption and atrocities’ of the ruling party.’
“While speaking on several party leaders and cadres leaving the party in West Bengal, Amit Shah said there is nothing to worry as the party still has a strong support base among the masses,” BJP leaders said.
This was Shah’s first meeting with the state unit after the last year’s Assembly polls in West Bengal. It comes when the state BJP unit is plagued by infighting and exodus. Several senior leaders are engaged in feuds off and on social media, leaving little time for party work.
