Amit Shah, President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently visited Naxalbari and other places in West Bengal. That was of course a wakeup call to the Trinamool Congress Party. It was prompt in meeting the challenge by enrolling the couple in Naxalbari who treated Amit Shah to lunch. The BJP is now all set to wrest West Bengal from the TMC Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee. But the odds are heavy against the BJP. In the Assembly elections in West Bengal last year the TMC had romped in with a massive majority of 211 out of 294 seats. The BJP lagged far behind with only 3 seats. It goes without saying, however, that if the TMC is afraid of a fight in an electoral battle, only the BJP looms large in the horizon. The state BJP seems to be the only opposition party that means business. The Centre is always ready to add to its muscles. The all-India sweep of the BJP and its spectacular victory in the UP Assembly elections makes it understandable that it is gearing to have West Bengal under its belt. An upset may not be a surprise if the TMC grows the way of the Samajwadi Party in UP. Lawlessness is no doubt rife in West Bengal and Mamata is known to be soft on Muslim clerics. The BJP may cash in on both the Hindu and the law and order factors.
The hurdle for the BJP is the impregnable charisma of Mamata Banerjee. She holds as much clout in West Bengal as Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre. Besides, the majority of the electorate in the state are not interested in the Hindutva issues which are so persuasive in the Hindi heartland. The state BJP has to get a leader with the kind of image that Mamata Banerjee has built up for herself.