Amit Shah in Bengal: Amid rebellion in TMC, Home Minister on two-day visit to West Bengal — check itinerary

Amit Shah in West Bengal: Also specualtions are rife that alongwith Adhikari a few other disgruntled TMC leaders and MLAs such as Jitendra Tiwari and Silbhadra Dutta could also join the BJP during Amit Shah's West Bengal visit. (PTI/File image)

Amit Shah in West Bengal: Amid rebellion in the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Home Minister Amit Shah will begin his two-day visit to West Bengal on Friday to take stock of Bharatiya Janata Party’s affairs in the state as the assembly elections draw near.

Reports have stated that former TMC heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, who quit the Trinamool Congress and gave up cabinet portfolios in the Mamata Banerjee government, could possibly join the BJP in the presence of Amit Shah during his two-day visit to the state.

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Also speculations are rife that along with Adhikari a few other disgruntled TMC leaders and MLAs such as Jitendra Tiwari and Silbhadra Dutta could also join the BJP during Amit Shah’s West Bengal visit.

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Amit Shah West Bengal Visit Itinerary:

Friday: As per PTI report, after arriving in Kolkata on Friday evening Amit Shah will be staying at a hotel in Newtown.

Saturday: In the morning, Shah is scheduled to meet with NIA officials. After that he will visit Swami Vivekananda’s residence in north Kolkata and pay tributes to the famed spiritual leader. After that, he will travel to Midnapore to pay tributes to revolutionary Khudiram Bose and offer puja at two temples, as per a senior BJP leader. In the afternoon, the home minister will visit a farmer’s home for lunch and hold a public rally at the Midnapore College ground. PTI quoted a Bengal BJP leader as saying that it is possible that several TMC leaders will be present at this rally and they will formally join the BJP at the event. Later on, Shah will hold meetings with state leaders in Kolkata and take stock of the party organisation.

Sunday: On the last day of his Bengal visit Amit Shah is scheduled to visit the Visva-Bharati university in Shantiniketan. He will have lunch at the house of a Baul singer and lead a roadshow in Bolpur. He will be holding a press conference on Sunday evening before returning to Delhi.

Home minister’s visit to Bengal comes at a time when the relations between the Centre and the state are at an all-time low. The animosity has worsened after Home Ministry asked the Mamata Banerjee government to immediately relieve three IPS officers for central deputation. This provoked a backlash from the CM who branded the move as “unconstitutional and unacceptable”.

As per state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, Shah and BJP president JP Nadda will be visiting West Bengal every month till the assembly elections next year.