BJP goes for UP-like campaign blitzkrieg in poll-bound Bengal

Lucknow: More than 24 senior UP BJP members, including four ministers in the Yogi cabinet, have been para-dropped into election-bound West Bengal.

UP BJP sources said ministers JPS Rathore, Daya Shankar Mishra Dayalu, Dinesh Khatik and Sanjay Gangwar have been sent to the state to mobilise the cadre in the politically important state. State leaders and MLAs, including PN Pathak and Ajay Singh, have also been assigned the task of stepping up spadework in the Mamata Banerjee-governed state.




Former MLA Suresh Rana has been deputed to mobilise the ground workers in at least 30 assembly seats. He will oversee specific clusters of constituencies, focusing on booth-level security and countering local intimidation. Rana had earlier played an important role in BJP campaigns during assembly elections in Haryana, Delhi, Tripura and Madhya Pradesh.

Deputy CMs, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, will address rallies in selected constituencies to ramp up the poll fervour.

Sources said BJP functionaries from UP and other states have been preparing the launch pad before a full-scale campaign is launched in Bengal in the coming days. While PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah will spearhead the campaign, BJP plans to include its star campaigners such as CM Yogi Adityanath to scale up the attack on TMC govt.

Union minister Bhupendra Yadav, who has deep organisational roots in UP, is party's election in-charge for West Bengal. Sources said he is currently leading a high-level core group meetings in Delhi to finalise candidate lists and strategy.

BJP national general secretary Sunil Bansal, acclaimed as a key architect of the BJP's 2014 and 2017 victories in Uttar Pradesh, is actively involved in the West Bengal core group's election preparations.

Speaking to TOI, minister JPS Rathore confirmed that a "good number" of UP BJP functionaries are mobilising cadre and carrying out ground-level campaigns in the deep pockets of Bengal. "We are working as one big unit to bring about the change," he said.

Rathore, a known poll manager, contributed significantly in the party campaigns and programmes at the grassroots in the 2017 and 2022 UP elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Experts said the deployment of UP functionaries reflects the BJP's multi-layered strategy for Bengal elections. It also underscores the party's attempt to leverage experienced political managers from its strongest organisational base to energise the cadre in a politically challenging state.

A senior UP BJP member said ministers Rathore, Dayalu, Khatik and Gangwar have strong organisational experience in managing booth-level campaigns and mobilising workers. So by sending them to Bengal, the party is trying to replicate the UP-style election management model, which emphasises micro-level booth coordination, aggressive cadre mobilisation and structured campaign monitoring.