Party confident of winning two of the three seats in Kolkata: Deodhar
“Don’t you think it was outrageous for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do sit-ups holding his ears,” asked a roadside vendor at an eastern Kolkata locality, where you will not find a single BJP flag in a 5-km radius.
Going by the number of party offices and the publicity, it’s all Mamata and Trinamool Congress (TMC) here. But that’s just on the face of it. Inside, the BJP is definitely on the surge.
Sitting at a plush hotel at the other end of the city, BJP’s master strategist Sunil Deodhar said they will win two of the three seats in the city, which will go to poll on the last phase this Sunday.
Deodhar is the National Secretary of the party and was the architect of the BJP’s landslide victory in the 2018 Assembly elections in Tripura.
He was flown in to manage affairs of the three constituencies in the city. However, he is not alone to be given such limited or focused responsibility. Much akin to the idea of “Panna Pramukh” (page in-charge) in Tripura election, the BJP nominated its senior-most leaders to manage polls in small geographies in West Bengal.
The party is confident of a victory similar to that of Tripura “In Tripura, there was silent support from people. But in Bengal, it is open. People are voting against Didi(Mamata),” he said.