Kolkata : The BJP's state unit is trying to pacify seat aspirants who were denied tickets, a day after workers resorted to violence to express their resentment at the party's first list of 28 candidates.
That the issue is a worry for the saffron outfit is evident from the fact that the BJP state leadership held a closed-door meeting will all the 28 candidates who figured in BJP's initial list.
With its first list the party had pinned hopes on defectors to take on the ruling Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in the state. Of the 28 candidates, nearly 25 are new faces.
The BJP leadership is putting up a brave face by telling enraged workers that they are free to quit.
Party workers had even resorted to violence in Bolpur after expelled Trinamool MP Anupam Hazra's name did the rounds as BJP candidate. Hazra was later shifted to Jadavpur.
Violence was also reported in Cooch Behar and Bashirat against BJP candidates Nisith Pramanik and Sayantan Basu. Workers are demanding a local as a candidate.
With old-timers being overlooked in favour of turncoats and newcomers, protestors gathered outside BJP offices in various parts of the state to vent their feelings.
In some places they even put up posters of rejected ticket aspirants outside the party's offices, irking the state BJP leadership.
This is not the first time that the BJP has faced such protests. During the Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls in 2015, several ticket aspirants had staged protests outside the party office here.
The BJP's closed-door meeting with candidates and state leaders discussed various aspects of the upcoming polls.
During the meeting BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya reportedly said if some aspirants did not get a ticket this time, they could be considered next time.
“An aspirant have to wait and keep working for the party. There is still a long way to go,” a state BJP leader quoted him as saying in the meeting.
The saffron party, which bagged two Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2014 elections, is now targeting at least 23 of the state's 42 constituencies.
BJP state vice president Raj Kamal Pathak submitted his resignation from the post after he was denied a party ticket.
“If after serving the party for three decades and holding the post of vice-president do not make me qualified to get a party ticket, it is better to resign from the post. I asked for a ticket from either Hooghly or Srirampore, but was denied a ticket,” Pathak had said.
Another candidate Mafuja Khatun was announced by the party on Saturday evening. She will contest from Jangipur, where the Congress has fielded former president Pranab Mukherjee’s son Abhijit Mukherjee.
Of the 29 candidates announced so far, five had recently defected to the saffron party from Trinamool Congress and two from the CPM.
Modi rally on April 3
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address seven public rallies in West Bengal ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, including a rally at Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground on April 3.
“Modi is expected to address seven rallies. His first public meeting will be in north Bengal’s Siliguri. He will also attend BJP's Brigade rally on April 3.The dates for the rest of the rallies have not been fixed yet,” party sources said.
Modi held three rallies in Bengal’s Thakurnagar, Durgapur and Jalpaiguri in February, where he launched a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee government, accusing it of unprecedented violence, corruption and extortion across the state.
After a legal fight with the ruling Trinamool Congress, the saffron camp had to stall three planned chariot rallies in Bengal.
These rallies were envisaged to culminate with a mega rally in the Brigade Parade ground on February 8 where Modi had planned to address.
After cancelling the chariot rallies, the state BJP had decided to conduct more mass meetings in the state by bringing in top central leaders.
But after the saffron camp announced their schedule to hold mass meetings across the state, the ruling TMC government denied permission to the BJP to land the helicopters in many places citing security concerns. Again, the saffron camp had to keep their plans on hold.
According to party sources, BJP chief Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will also hold seven public rallies across the state ahead of each phases of election.
“Before each phase, both Shah and Adityanath are scheduled to hold mass meetings in the constituencies which would go the polls in staggered phases,” sources said.
According to state BJP general secretary Raju Banerjee the venues of the meeting are yet to be finalised.
The BJP is scouting for areas where there could be a maximum concentration of workers from many LS seats.
“Both the ruling Trinamool Congress and the CPM had organised mammoth rallies in Brigade Parade grounds earlier this year. Now it’s time for the BJP,” observers said.
West Bengal voters will cast their franchise in all the seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections from April 11 to May 19.
