Amit Shah's Bengal visit: BJP shifts into campaign gear ahead of 2026 polls

December 29: Shah will land in Kolkata on December 29 at 7 pm and head straight to the BJP office. The BJP leader is expected to take stock of the state's organisational progress.

December 30: He is likely to hold a "big bang" press conference in Kolkata on December 30. A luncheon interaction with senior journalists is also on the anvil the same day. However, no final call has been taken on this event, Bengal BJP insiders told CNN-News18.

Shah will chair multiple organisational meetings during his stay, reviewing the party's preparedness, booth-level feedback and future roadmap.

Shah is also slated to hold a closed-door meeting with RSS functionaries on December 30. The CNN-News18 report stated that Shah will hold a separate meeting with the BJP MPs and MLAs at Kolkata's Science City auditorium.

December 31: BJP insiders told CNN-News18 that on December 31, Shah may visit the residences of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, author of Vande Mataram and Margaret Elizabeth Noble, better known as Sister Nivedita. On November 7, the central government launched year-long national celebrations for the 150th anniversary of India's national song “Vande Mataram”.

Why is Shah's visit significant?

Shah's visit signifies how BJP's election campaign will gather pace in the lead-up to the elections in the new year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already visited the state on December 20. BJP general secretary and BJP's election in-charge, Bhupendra Yadav, has been brainstorming and planning the party's election micro-strategy with the party's state unit since October.

Shah's year-end visit is expected to be the opening of a new and aggressive phase of political planning in Bengal.

For the BJP, Bengal remains the big unfinished project, and the signals of Shah's visit between December 29 and 31 make it clear that the party's top brass is ready to plunge into the political labyrinth long before the 2026 showdown.

Why does West Bengal matter to BJP?

Bengal continues to be an unfinished dream for the BJP. The party has never won a majority in the West Bengal Assembly since Independence.

The BJP became noticeable in Bengal politics starting in 2014 as Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre.

The BJP displaced the CPI(M) as the principal opposition party when it won 18 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 (up from two in 2014) and 77 Vidhan Sabha seats in the 2021 Assembly elections (up from three in 2016). However, it suffered a setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning 12 seats.

In 2021, the BJP managed to maintain its vote share in these seats at 34.78%, behind the Trinamool Congress at 50.7%.

As Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leads the Trinamool Congress anti-SIR campaign, the BJP hopes to replicate the Bihar election win to register a victory in a state where it has never tasted power.