Amit Shah on 3-day visit to Kolkata from Sept 11

KOLKATA: BJP national president Amit Shah will be on a three-day visit to the city from September 11 to 13 to expand the party's base in Bengal.

According to Bengal BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu, Shah is scheduled to arrive in the city on September 10 at around 11 pm and

hold meetings with party leaders at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) the next day.

Unlike his last visit in April when he started his booth level public interaction programme from North Bengal's

Naxalbari — the birthplace of the Maoist movement in the country half a century ago,

the Bharatiya Janata Party president would be

limiting his engagements this time to Kolkata and its adjoining areas.

On Wednesday, Shah would hold a press conference at the Press Club ahead of his meeting with members of the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce at a five star hotel in central Kolkata.

Shah's programme is being seen as part of the BJP's efforts to strengthen the party organisation in a state where it has been traditionally weak,

but has shown signs of emerging as a formidable force

in the near future, with opposition Left Front and

Congress continuing to lose ground in recent electoral contests.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee said that Shah will not be able to create any "magic" in the state.