Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday said the BJP had put up a “stellar performance” in the Bengal rural polls despite violence and the party would reach “meteoric heights” in the next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
“Even bloodcurdling violence in West Bengal could not stop the BJP from putting up a stellar performance in Panchayat Election. The BJP nearly doubled its seat tally from the previous election indicating a significant rise in the trust placed by the people,” Shah said in a tweet.
Ever since the panchayat polls had been declared, the BJP has been accusing the Mamata Banerjee government and the State Election Commission of denying the Opposition a level playing field.
After the publication of the results, the BJP said it had bagged over 11,000 seats, around double the number it had won five years ago.
Shah said the verdict showed that the people’s affection lied with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “will surely lead the party to meteoric heights in Lok Sabha and assembly polls”.
“My heartfelt gratitude to the people of West Bengal and many Congratulations to Shri @DrSukantaBJP, Shri @SuvenduWB and the Karyakartas who stood firm with the party despite mercilessly adverse circumstances,” the Union home minister tweeted.
A senior state BJP leader said the congratulatory message would surely “motivate” the rank and file of the party in Bengal and prepare them for the Lok Sabha polls.
Reacting to Shah’s tweet, Trinamul said he “is basking in his short-lived glory that was earned at the cost of the lives and sacrifices of TMC party workers and candidates”.
In a social media post, Trinamul also said: “In the other two tiers of the panchayat system, we won nearly 80 percent (2,641 of the total 3,317) gram panchayats and 92 percent (313 of the total 341) panchayat samitis.”
Shah’s remarks came at a time when a “fact-finding team” of the BJP headed by former Union minister Ravishankar Prasad was visiting Bengal. The team is meeting BJP supporters and families of party workers who have lost their lives in violence during the rural polls.
On Friday, Prasad, along with other members of the team, spoke with such families and supporters at a hotel in Cooch Behar.
They also visited a private nursing home where some party workers are under treatment.
The team reached the house of Madhab Biswas, a polling agent of the BJP who was gunned down on July 8. Later in the day, they left the district.
“We will submit a report to our national president J P Nadda. Our supporters were intimidated, attacked, killed and even their families were threatened,” said Prasad.
Political observers opined that the BJP has taken a two-fold strategy.
“On one hand, the party is trying to exert pressure on Trinamul over the issue of violence and alleged malpractices during the polls. On the other hand, the leaders are trying to boost the workers and supporters as the party has failed to perform in most of its strongholds, barring a few like Nandigram,” said a political analyst.
Additional reporting by our Cooch Behar correspondent
