Rural polls are round the corner but the BJP is busy writing graffiti for the Lok Sabha elections due in 2024.

BJP workers and leaders are writing graffiti in Malda urging people to vote for the Narendra Modi government one more time.

The move has perplexed the common residents as panchayat elections are expected to be held within two months while the Lok Sabha polls are a year away.

“We were expecting them to come up with a message for the upcoming rural polls. However, the walls are talking about the Lok Sabha elections,” said a local resident. “Hopefully, the graffiti won’t peel off by the time Lok Sabha polls take place.”

Parthasarathi Ghosh, the president of the BJP’s organisational district (South), said the graffiti writing would continue for another fortnight.

“There is hardly a year left for the Parliament elections. Keeping this in mind, we have started a campaign to bring the BJP back in power at the Centre and are following the instruction of our central leaders,” said Ghosh.

The BJP leader denied that there was any laxity regarding rural polls. “We are carrying out our programs for the rural polls side by side,” said Ghosh.

But many are questioning the poll strategy of the BJP leadership.

The saffron camp had managed to win the Malda North Lok Sabha seat and lost the Malda South constituency by a narrow margin of 8,000 votes.

“Perhaps, they (BJP) have realised that it will be difficult for them to get good results in the ensuing rural body elections and are probably focusing on the Lok Sabha polls,” the observer said.

The Trinamul Congress lost no time in mocking the BJP over the strategy.

Mausam Noor, a Trinamul Rajya Sabha member, said: “They hardly have good prospects in the rural polls. They will also face defeat in the Lok Sabha polls next year,” the Trinamul MP said.

Kalisadhan Roy, the working president of the Congress’s district committee, said: “A wave of support is being witnessed across the country for the Congress. Their (BJP's) move is only suggesting their weakness.”