Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj will address a BJP rally in Kolkata on Friday. The rally is being organised to galvanise the BJP workers and strengthen the party organisation ahead of the crucial panchayat polls.
The state BJP leadership is leaving no stone unturned to make the rally a grand success. “Popular misconception is that it is only the rallies of ruling Trinamul Congress and Opposition CPI(M) which attract large turnout. We will show on November 30 that BJP bhi kisi se kam nahin hai. Large number of BJP supporters will assemble at Rani Rashmoni Road to listen to Sushmaji,” state BJP president Rahul Sinha said.
He said there was reason for his optimism. Mr Sinha claimed that the BJP’s support base and popularity have increased in the state in the past 18 months after Ms Mamata Banerjee came to power. To substantiate his claim, he cited the BJP’s improved performance in the Jangipur Lok Sabha byelection in October. “BJP candidate Sudhangshu Biswas got above 85,000 votes. Our vote share jumped from a paltry 2.4 in the 2009 Lok Sabha poll to nearly 11 per cent,” he added.
The BJP had bagged 11 per cent vote more than 20 years ago in 1991 when the party was riding on the Hindutva wave.
Mr Sinha claimed that the substantial jump in the BJP’s vote share showed that the people of the state were seriously searching for a political alternative. “The people had voted Mamata Banerjee to power with great expectations but she has badly let them down. The only paribarton they can see is of that of the flag: the red flag has been replaced by the Trinamul Congress’ flag. Ms Banerjee has failed miserably as chief minister. There is total misgovernance,” Mr Sinha added.
The CPI(M) acknowledged that the BJP’s strength was growing.