The West Bengal BJP that has been dealing with infighting and the defection of leaders to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is trying to put up a united face ahead of party national president J P Nadda’s arrival in Kolkata on Tuesday night. The BJP chief will chair a series of meetings with party leaders and workers during his two-day visit. Sources in the BJP said the visit assumes significance at a time the party is trying to recover lost ground ahead of next year’s panchayat elections. “The party wants to focus on panchayat polls scheduled for next year. Without wasting much time, leaders want to start the preparations immediately. This will be the first big test for the new state leadership,” said a senior leader on condition of anonymity. Party leaders said Nadda’s visit — during which a roadmap for the coming months is expected to be prepared and responsibilities are likely to be allocated — would be an ideal occasion to show that the state unit had put behind its recent struggles. The BJP last week cracked its whip and censured its former state president Dilip Ghosh for speaking against the new state leadership. This was seen by BJP insiders as an attempt to rein in dissidents who have been vocal against a section of party leaders. “No one has claimed that the party organisation is bereft of any shortcomings. There are weaknesses in every organisation. But the BJP in Bengal is united. It is standing on firm ground. In the 2021 Assembly polls, the party got 38 per cent vote share and became the principal Opposition party. Yes, there were some incidents that were unfortunate and unwarranted and not desired in our party. But the party is coming out of that situation. It is not right to assume that the party is in trouble and Nadda ji is so concerned that he is coming to look after party affairs,” said state BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya. On Wednesday, Nadda will start his day with a visit to the houses of writer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and freedom fighter Rash Behari Bose in Hooghly district. Later, at National Library in Kolkata, he will address the inaugural session of the BJP state executive. He is scheduled to hold several closed-door meetings with party leaders later in the day. The following day, the BJP chief will first visit Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. He will then hold meetings with party MPs, MLAs, and other office-bearers at a city hotel. In the afternoon, Nadda will attend a “karyakarta sammelan (workers’ conference)” with zilla and mandal committee leaders at the Science City auditorium in Kolkata. The BJP president will conclude his trip after attending a “nagarik sammelan (citizens’ meeting) in the city. The TMC, however, refused to attach any significance to Nadda's visit. “J P Nadda visited West Bengal so many times in the past but that only led to more exodus from his party. We are not at all concerned. He is coming here to stop the party infighting. The state BJP has been divided between newcomers and old-timers. It is struggling to keep its house in order. J P Nadda is coming here to streamline his party, which is completely their internal matter. We are not bothered by such things,” said TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.
