BJP aims to make inroads in West Bengal, Odisha in last phase of Lok Sabha polls
For the last leg of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are going all out to ensure that the party bags a substantial number of the 57 seats where elections will be held on June 1.
On Wednesday, PM Modi will address four rallies, one in West Bengal and three in Odisha.
In both states, the party has been working diligently to expand its footprint and strengthen its hold over the polity.
In 2019, the BJP won 18 seats in West Bengal, which was perceived as a big win for the party which had little presence on the ground.
The BJP then set out to aggressively campaign in the state against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and pitch itself as an alternative.
The high voltage campaign that began in 2019 helped the party perform well in the 2021 assembly polls in the state and went on to win 77 seats.
The high point of the election was the BJP candidate Suvendhu Adhikari, a former aide of chief minister Mamata Banerjee defeating her in her pocket borough of Nandigram.
Adhikari, who was considered a trustee lieutenant of Banerjee, is being credited with helping the BJP gain strength in the state which was considered to have little affinity with the BJP’s ideology, owing to the state being a hotbed of communism.
Having emerged as the principal opposition in the state, the BJP now has set its sights on increasing its Lok Sabha tally, which will set the stage for the assembly polls in 2026.
In Odisha too, the BJP is hopeful of not only doubling its Lok Sabha tally; it won 8 of the 21 seats in 2019, but also asserting that it is in the position to form government in the state.
As in West Bengal, where the Congress and the Left parties are no longer perceived as formidable opponents, in Odisha too, the BJP has positioned itself as the alternative to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
The BJD has won the assembly elections for the last five terms and is confident of an encore.