BJP mounts poll attack - What's Didi's Counter?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the state twice, staying for three days in the first week of march of next year. Meanwhile, the TMC has scheduled a sizable gathering for march 10 at Kolkata's Brigade Parade grounds. The Sandeshkhali scandal, which has put the mamata banerjee administration on the defensive, gives the events significance.
The TMC had defeated the bjp by 1,142 votes in 2019 for the lok sabha seat in Arambagh. mahua moitra of the TMC held the seat of Krishnanagar till her expulsion from the lok sabha in december of last year. The bjp wants to seize the two seats in 2024, and Modi's visits are in line with that goal.
Since february 9, there have been intense protests in the island community of Sandeshkhali against Shahjahan Sheikh, the local TMC leader, on charges of engaging in sexual exploitation, land grabbing, and other wrongdoings. Villagers furious—women in particular—have rushed to the streets to demand that Shahjahan and his men be put into custody.
According to a bjp source, Sandeshkhali comes under the Basirhat lok sabha seat, where the public is unhappy with the TMC mp in office, actor-turned-politician Nusrat Jahan. "PM Modi speaking on the issue can do wonders for us, given the way things are turning out there—the local TMC henchmen either under arrest or fleeing."