BJP aims at increasing footprint in Kolkata and surrounding districts

With an eye on 2021 assembly polls, the BJP West Bengal leadership has decided to increase its footprint in Kolkata and its surrounding districts and Muslim-dominated bordering district of Murshidabad.

After the party's organisational meet, Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday conceded that the saffron party, despite making deep inroads in the state, is on a weak wicket in districts like South 24 Parganas, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Kolkata.

"We have to increase our support base in these districts, we have told our organisational leaders to reach out to the masses with out party's policies, programmes and our achievements at the Centre," Ghosh told reporters here.

The BJP in the 2019 general election put up a stupendous performance by bagging 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

He said organisational elections are going on in all the 79,000 booth-level committees of the state, out of which polls in 64,000 booth-level committees have already been completed.

"By November 9, elections to all mandal committees will be completed. Our next target is winning 2021 assembly elections and inroads to these four districts is key to that. We may have made deep inroads in North Bengal and Junglemahal areas of the state but until and unless we have a strong presence in these four districts the victory will be incomplete " a senior state BJP functionary said.

Menawhile, Ghosh while speaking on the police cracking the Murshidabad Triple murder case, said only CBI investigation into the killing can bring out the truth.

"We think only a CBI inquiry into killings can bring out the truth," Ghosh said.

Police on Tuesday arrested the main accused in the Murshidabad triple murder case for his alleged involvement in the crime, a senior police officer said.

Utpal Behra, a mason by profession, was arrested from Sagardighi's Sahapur area of the district on Tuesday morning, Murshidabad Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar said.

Bandhu Prakash Pal, a 35-year-old teacher, his pregnant wife Beauty and 8-year-old son Angan were found dead in their house at Jiaganj in Murshidabad district on October 8, when Durga Puja festivities were on.