Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday forced the BJP’s Bengal leaders to go all out against the Trinamul Congress in the coming municipal polls when he apparently sensed that the state unit of the party was planning a token electoral fight at over 100 civic bodies.

Multiple sources in the state BJP told this correspondent that the party heavyweight had brought about a change of 180 degrees in the leaders’ strategy vis-à-vis the civic elections at an interaction with them here on Sunday evening. The state functionaries immediately convened a meeting of the district office-bearers to discuss the civic polls on Monday morning.

“He (Shah) said he would not accept anything short of a whole-hearted fight. He didn’t set any target, but made it clear that he wanted the state unit to put up its best,” said a source.

According to the BJP insider, Shah also made it clear that the central leadership of the party would closely observe the manner in which the state unit would fight the polls.

The former national BJP chief’s insistence on going all out in the civic polls, the source said, had castled the state leaders. “As the civic polls would be held under the state election commission, it is almost certain that Trinamul would rig the voting like the way it had done during the last panchayat polls. We had planned to put up a token fight, cry foul with the vitiation and then play the victim card ahead of the Assembly polls,” the source said.

The number two man in the BJP was so engrossed in shaking the state BJP out of slumber that he deferred his flight back to Delhi by almost two hours and took time to conclude three consecutive meetings. Shah told the second meeting — attended by all elected public representatives, state office-bearers, district presidents and all Lok Sabha poll contestants — that the Bengal unit would receive all cooperation from the central leadership.

Immediately after Shah’s instructions, state leaders scurried to draw up a roadmap on how to put up a tough fight and convened an emergency meeting on Monday morning. It was decided at the meeting to form committees for each of the districts to prepare for the polls. “The list has to be finalised and all processes have to be completed by next week,” said a source.

Some insiders in the BJP said the meeting with Shah once again proved the organisational deficiencies in the party in Bengal. “The fact that the central unit would monitor the civic poll from Delhi also exposes our weaknesses,” said a source, who did not wish to be quoted.