Amit Shah's visit cancelled; Smriti Irani to address Howrah rally today

Kolkata: Smritri Irani, Union minister for Textiles and Women and Child Development, will address a BJP rally at Dumurjala in Howrah on Sunday after Union Home minister Amit Shah's visit was cancelled.

However, Shah is expected to address the rally virtually from Delhi if everything goes as planned. Shah's visit to Bengal has been cancelled against the backdrop of an explosion that took place near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi on Friday evening.

There was no confirmation till Saturday evening as to who would be addressing the gathering at Howrah after Shah's visit was cancelled. Initially, speculations were rife that senior leaders like J P Nadda or Rajnath Singh would address the gathering. Later, BJP sources claimed that Irani would be present at the Dumurjala rally.

Meanwhile, the turncoats including Rajib Banerjee, Vaishali Dalmiya, Dr Rathin Chakraborty, Partha Sarathi Chatterjee of Ranaghat along with Bengali actor Rudranil Ghosh, accompanied by the party's Bengal observer Kailash Vijayvargiya and national vice-president Mukul Roy, flew to Delhi for a meeting with Shah. These leaders will also be present at the Sunday's meeting in Dumurjala.