Amit Shah begins Bengal expansion from Naxalbari, lunches with tribals

Siliguri: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Tuesday launched the party’s Mission Bengal from Naxalbari, where the radical left movement began in the late 19960s.

He had lunch at the house of a tribal at Dakkhin Katiajote village in Naxalbari area. Shah sat on the floor of Raju Mahali's house and had rice, moong dal, 'potol' fry, squash curry, salad and 'papad', served on a banana leaf.

BJP West Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh accompanied Shah, who is on a three-day tour of West Bengal.

According to a report in NDTV, Shah will conduct a door-to-door campaign in Naxalbari. His next destination would be Bhabanipur, the assembly constituency of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The Bengal tour is aimed at gaining hold in the state ahead of the local body elections in 2018 and also the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

The ruling Trinamool Congress party sees Shah’s visit as an attempt to make a dent in Bengal. "They are welcome to come and visit and we hope they have a good trip. But the lives of people in Bengal are entwined with Mamata Banerjee's,” said Firhad Hakim, West Bengal's urban development minister.

Besides Bengal, Shah will visit four other states – Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. With the tour to Bengal and four other states, Shah is attempting to expand BJP’s footprint in the regions where its presence has been weak.