Kolkata: The mega rally of the West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at Brigade Parade Ground in central Kolkata, which is scheduled to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this month as part of the party’s campaign build-up for the forthcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal later this year, might be advanced by a day.
“Initially, it was decided that the event would be organised on March 15. However, at that particular point in time, we made it clear that the schedule would remain subject to possible last-minute changes from the Prime Minister’s Office. As per the latest and once again tentative schedule, the rally might now be advanced by a day, that is on March 14,” said a state committee member of the BJP in West Bengal.
According to him, the Prime Minister is expected to arrive in Kolkata on the night of March 13 and, after addressing the rally on the afternoon of March 14, he is likely to return to New Delhi later the same day.
The said rally, which will be addressed by the Prime Minister, will also bring an end to the ongoing Parivartan Yatra organised by the West Bengal unit of the BJP, which had started from March 2.
Several senior BJP leaders and prominent members of the Union Cabinet, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and the BJP’s national president Nitin Nabin, have already participated in different phases of the Parivartan Yatra.
He also said that the state leadership is simultaneously working to complete the final list of recommendations of party candidates for the 294 Assembly constituencies in the state and forward the same to the central leadership so that the latter can take a final decision in the matter.
“This time, the state unit of the party will send two separate lists for each of the 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal to the party’s central leadership. One list will contain three names of preferred candidates, while the other list will include three names that are not preferred at all as candidates,” the state committee member said.
At the same time, he added that the state leadership this time is attempting to focus on recommending names of party candidates in a more organised and structured manner by giving greater emphasis to leaders emerging from grassroots levels rather than celebrities, especially those coming from the silver-screen world.
(IANS)
