Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his visit to the ‘Thanthania Kalibari’ temple, in Kolkata. (PTI Photo/Manvender Vashist)
KOLKATA: Union home minister Amit Shah urged BJP functionaries and workers in Bengal to mentally lock in victory in the 2026 assembly elections. “Dil pe likh lo, is baar hamari sarkar (Write it on your hearts, this time it’s our govt),” Shah said Wednesday, hours before leaving Kolkata.Addressing party workers, Shah set a specific target. “Our workers have been killed and that has bled our hearts. This time, I want 22 out of 28 seats from areas in and around Kolkata,” he said. On Tuesday, Shah had said BJP would form next govt in Bengal with a two-thirds majority.Kolkata district and adjoining urban pockets include constituencies such as Jadavpur, Dumdum, and central neighbourhoods like Jorasanko and Shyampukur. BJP failed to win a single assembly seat in these areas in the 2021 state polls, but led in Jorasanko and Shyampukur during the 2024 LS election count.During his hour-long address, Shah referred to Bhowanipore, the constituency from which CM Mamata Banerjee won the 2021 bypolls. When he initially said BJP had led in three civic wards there, party worker Navin Mishra stood up to correct him. Shah accepted the correction. “Hard work helped us lead in five civic wards in Bhowanipore,” Shah said, revising his remark.Party seniors said Shah wants a breakthrough in the wider Kolkata belt – nearly 140 seats across Kolkata’s periphery, North and South 24 Parganas districts to the east and south, and Howrah district across Hooghly river to the west. “These are areas where the party is still weak. Shah wants us to penetrate this zone,” a Bengal BJP neta said.Shah raised concerns about alleged infiltration and what he described as a “changing demography” around Kolkata. “He said we may not fully grasp the danger now, but Kolkata is no longer safe. Infiltration will rise and the consequences will be serious,” a functionary said, quoting him.The home minister also sought to counter perceptions of organisational weakness in the state. “He told us to ignore narratives about a weak organisation. Compared to 2021, our strength has improved a lot,” the neta added.Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, meanwhile, dismissed Shah’s claim that BJP will win Bengal in 2026 polls, saying party workers were being fed “daydreams” and faulty arithmetic. “BJP’s maths is wrong,” Ghosh said, alleging the saffron party was building a narrative that Trinamool’s victory margins would be offset by voter deletions under EC’s SIR. “Every 70-75% turnout means 25-30% didn’t vote. Deletions will fall there. Let them daydream.”Responding to BJP’s corruption allegations, he said netas facing graft charges “turn saints” after joining BJP, calling it “the biggest washing machine”. Ghosh also rejected BJP criticism of Bengal’s record on women’s safety, citing cases such as Unnao, Hathras and Bilkis Bano in BJP-governed states.
