Amit Shah's Bengal tour cancelled; Nadda to visit North Bengal on Oct 19

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to poll-bound West Bengal has been cancelled on Wednesday. Shah, slated to visit the state on October 19, was expected to hold a party meeting during his one-day visit.

However, the BJP national president JP Nadda will be touring now, the party's state unit has confirmed. Accordingly, Nadda will reach Baghdogra on Monday morning and will be chairing three consecutive meetings in Siliguri. All BJP officials, MPs from the state and senior leaders of the party's state wing to be present there during his visit.

Ahead of the Assembly elections in the upcoming year, the saffron party is trying to strengthen its turf in the state, after Bihar. The party chief is further likely to meet prominent citizens, and interact with various stakeholders from the region including, tea estate workers and leaders from the Gorkha community.

There will be an interaction with the district level and booth presidents, giving them guidance on how to contest the Assembly polls. A total of 54 Assembly seats come under this segment with about 300 booths each covering eight districts.

BJP had managed to win seven Lok Sabha seats, out of eight in North Bengal. State chief Dilip Ghosh, vice-president Mukul Roy, and state in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya are likely to join Nadda during his upcoming visit. The number of people allowed to meet Nadda will, however, be restricted in accordance with the Covid-19 protocols.