West Bengal: BJP ramps up efforts in 109 assembly seats

Bharatiya Janata Party has entrusted 22 leaders with the task of aiding the local leadership with logistic and strategic support in West Bengal assembly elections.

These leaders would be camping in constituencies they have been given charge of.

More leaders are being deployed by the central party leadership in the state to aid the local unit and to put up a concerted fight. The party is paying special attention to 109 assembly seats divided according to the party's orgsational districts, sources said.

While Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been given Kolkata North that has nine assembly constituencies including Khardah, North Dum Dum, Kamarhati, Phati, Baranagar, Dum Dum, Rajarhat new town, Bidhannagar and Rajarhat Gopalpur, former union minister Radhamohan Singh has been given the responsibility of five constituencies in Howrah Rural.

Union minister R K Singh will be stationed at Barrackpore and supervise elections in five assemblies namely Bhatpara, Naihati, Jagatdal, Noapara and Barrackpur.

Pradeepsinh Vaghela, general secretary of the Gujarat unit would be supervising five constituencies of Bongaon district whereas Basanta Kumar Panda will be in charge of Basirhat and Barasat constituencies and a few constituencies of Barrackpore district. Vinod Sonkar, BJP MP and SC morcha president, would be supervising four constituencies of Bashirhat as well. Mangal Pandey, Minister of Health in Bihar, would be working with the local unit of Bashirhat and Barasat constituencies.

Rajendra Rathore, an MLA from Rajasthan, has been given constituencies in the South 24 Parganas and Mathurapur districts whereas Nishikant Dubey, BJP MP, too would work in both the districts supervising five other constituencies.

Vinod Tawde, in charge of Haryana, has been given responsibility in Mathurapur and Diamond Harbour whereas Ramesh Bidhuri, South Delhi MP would be stationed in South 24 Paragana and Kolkata South. Other constituencies falling in Hooghly would be covered by Satish Upadhyay, former Delhi chief. Delhi MP Pravesh Verma will be in constituencies falling in the Arambag district.

Districts of Kolkata North and assembly constituencies falling in it have been divided between Ashish Shelar from Maharashtra and Shankar Chaudhary from Gujarat.

Others who have been sent for the high-pitched poll battle in Bengal include Nitin Nabin who has been given the responsibility of Tollygunge that is reportedly being eyed by chief minister Mamata Banerjee as a second seat to contest from. Party MP Vinay Shashrabuddhe will oversee seats like Kolkata port and Bhawpore, the seat that Mamata left to contest from Nandigram.

Deepak Prakash from Jharkhand would be stationed in Howrah district and will monitor five seats. He will share the responsibility with Bhajan Lal Sharma, general secretary, Rajasthan BJP. From Madhya Pradesh, Vishwas Sarang and Arvind Bhadauriya have been given responsibility in Hooghly and Sreerampur districts.

( With inputs from ANI )