Crucial RSS-BJP meeting on Sunday may finalise Bengal strategy for 2024 LS polls

KOLKATA: A crucial coordination meeting between the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Singh (RSS) and the West Bengal unit of the BJP is scheduled in Kolkata on Sunday.

It is believed that an initial strategy for next year's Lok Sabha polls will be chalked out at the meeting, which will be chaired by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who is currently on a three-day visit to West Bengal.

Bhagwat’s visit is considered significant, especially in the backdrop of the recent visit to the state by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J.P. Nadda to take stock of the organisational situation of the party.

There are also speculation over the RSS chief’s scheduled visit to the residence Upendra Nath Biswas, a former top CBI officer and ex-member of Mamata Banerjee-led state Cabinet, on Sunday. The agenda of the meeting is not known yet.

Biswas was the CBI officer instrumental for the arrest and imprisonment of former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad in the fodder scam case.

Sources said that Bhagwat’s ongoing visit is an exercise to have a clear idea about the current political situation in the state, which is reeling under various cases of alleged financial scam and money laundering.

“The other major purpose of the visit is to spread the message for the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22. He is also taking stock of the possibilities of further spreading Sangha’s organisational network in West Bengal,” said an RSS insider.

During his recent visit to the state, Shah had clearly sent a message to the state BJP leaders that the final battle in 2024 will have to be fought by the state leadership by strengthening the organisational base of the party.

Shah had also assured the state leadership of full cooperation from the party’s central leadership to spearhead the organisational efforts of the BJP in the state.