The Jalpaiguri district leadership of the BJP cannot apply for the Election Commission of India's permission to hold public meetings in the Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha segment as the party hasn't announced the candidate for the seat yet.

“The permission is sought through the ECI's app by a person authorised by the candidate or the party. As we don’t have a candidate, we cannot seek permission for public meetings, unlike the Trinamul Congress or the CPM. Also, the expenses of such meetings are included in the expenditure incurred by the candidate. Even if we seek permission, we don't know under which head the expenses will be shown,” said a senior BJP leader.

As a result, the BJP is organising door-to-door campaigns and micro-level meetings.

“The delay is affecting the campaign plan. We don’t know what the central leadership has in mind. Both Trinamul and CPM candidates are in full campaign mode while our activities are limited to door-to-door campaigns,” the BJP leader said.

The election in the Jalpaiguri constituency will be held in less than a month on April 19. Only two days — March 26 and 27 — are left to file nomination papers.

In 2019, Jayanta Roy of the BJP won the Jalpaiguri seat.

Sources in the administration said 110 applications for public meetings had reached them from different political parties so far. Most of the applications are from Trinamul.

“The BJP has filed a few applications for the Nagrakata Assembly segment. For the Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha seat, the party has not filed any application so far,” said a source.

The Nagrakata Assembly seat is in the Jalpaiguri district but in the Alipurduar Lok Sabha constituency.

“We couldn’t apply to the ECI for a single meeting as the candidate has not been decided. On the other hand, BJP supporters of Nagrakata are working in a full-fledged manner for Alipurduar candidate Manoj Tigga and hosting political activities regularly," said another BJP leader in Jalpaiguri.

The BJP is yet to announce candidates for 23 seats in Bengal.