Amit Shah in Bengal on 2-day visit: Rajib Banerjee, Vaishali Dalmia, Laxmi Ratan Shukla to join BJP?

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be on a two-day visit to Bengal with several internal party meetings and some public meetings part of his itinerary. He will be in Kolkata on Friday. Ahead of the Assembly elections in the state, Shah’s current visit may see some more change of political camps by Trinamool Congress leaders to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Suvendu Adhikari, Trinamool Congress leader from East Midnapore joined the BJP in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on December 19, 2020, during his last visit to the state. Now, there are talks that several other Trinamool leaders, including former ministers, might join the BJP in Shah’s presence again.

State forest minister Rajib Banerjee, the lawmaker from Howrah’s Domjur assembly seat quit the cabinet on January 22, thanking chief minister Mamata Banerjee for providing him a platform to work for people. However, he expressed disappointment that the Irrigation department of which he was in charge, had been taken away from him without his knowledge about two years ago. Banerjee is expected to join the BJP at a rally in Howrah district in presence of Amit Shah.

Bengal’s minister of state for Youth Services and Sports, Laxmi Ratan Shukla had resigned from his post recently, and stepped down as Howrah district president of the Trinamool Congress. Though Shukla has said that he wants to take a break from politics, there are rumours still that he will join the BJP. Shukla has refused to comment on the matter.

For the past few weeks, Vaishali Dalmiya, the legislator from Bally in Howrah district has been making public statements against her party, the Trinamool Congress. Trinamool Congress has recently expelled her for anti-party activities. Dalmiya’s possibility of joining the BJP has also been doing the rounds.

Another Trinamool MLA likely to join BJP is Prabir Ghoshal from Hooghly’s Uttarpara. Ghoshal has said that he is stepping down as district core committee member and spokesperson of the party’s Hooghly unit. He was issued a showcause notice on Tuesday for allegedly sharing internal affairs of the party with the press. Former Mayor of Howrah Municipal Corporation, Rathin Chakraborty, is also on the list. He has also expressed his discontent about the Trinamool district leadership more than once.

Amit Shah will hold a meeting at Dumurjala Stadium in Howrah on January 31. He will also address a public meeting in Thakurnagar of North 24 Parganas. BJP MP Shantanu Thakur will also be present in this public meeting. Thakurnagar is the stronghold of the Matua community, that plays an important role in many assembly segments in Bengal. Shah is also likely to pay a visit to the ISKON temple at Mayapur, Nadia district.

The Union Home Minister is also likely to visit the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, Saurav Ganguly, who is admitted to a city hospital.