The Bengal strategy: Who are the 'peacekeepers' deployed by BJP ahead of polls

The BJP’s vote share in 2021 was 37.97% while that of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was 48.02%

• BJP deploys senior leaders from other states to boost Bengal poll preparations
• Leaders given constituencies, tasked with resolving internal disputes
• Local leaders help translate for Hindi-speaking BJP seniors during outreach

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Ahead of the West Bengal Assembly election, the BJP has brought its senior leaders or “pravasi sadasyas”  to the state to boost its poll preparations.

A report by Indian Express stated that among the “pravasi sadasyas” are UP minister J P S Rathore, Uttarakhand minister Dhan Singh Rawat, Rajasthan BJP Kisan Morcha president Kailash Choudhary, former UP Minister Suresh Rana, Haryana BJP general secretary Sanjay Bhatia, and former Karnataka minister C T Ravi.

These experienced senior leaders are also expected to resolve internal differences in the Bengal unit at all levels.

Most of these leaders largely speak Hindi and hence they will be accompanied by local leaders who pitch in with translation during interactions with grassroots workers and people.

Allocation of duties

Rathore, who managed the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2017 and 2022 as well as the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, has been assigned charge of 35 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal. His areas of responsibility include Contai and Tamluk in Purba Medinipur district, and Ghatal and Medinipur city in Paschim Medinipur district.

Rana is overseeing Barrackpore, Barasat and Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district. A native of Shamli district in western Uttar Pradesh, Rana has previously supervised the party’s electoral efforts in Haryana, Delhi, Tripura and Madhya Pradesh. He has been given responsibility for 28 Assembly constituencies and recently travelled to Sandeshkhali, which witnessed a major political controversy in 2024 following allegations of sexual harassment against local Trinamool Congress leaders.

“We are looking after political and organisational management, given our experience in our own states. We are also looking after the organisational campaigns and programmes, trying to step up our reach in the polling booths where we are weak. The larger focus, however, is on resolving the differences between local party workers,” a “pravasi” leader told IE.

A “pravasi” leader told IE that they are not local leaders they are not biased towards any individual party leader of the state. “They can freely speak to us and discuss their issues and problems. As per our experience, we resolve issues at meetings and note down the complex issues to discuss with superiors. We are bringing together leaders who have problems with each other and convincing them to end their disputes in the interest of the party because bringing the party to power is the top priority” the leader told IE.