A river ride and a retort:
PM Narendra Modi boarded boat on Hooghly.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee takes swipe at 'Yamuna pollution'.
Modi had been extensively campaigning in Bengal for the past two days, and BJP sources said he would attend rallies and road shows till April 26. Around 6am on Friday, he arrived at Gwalior Ghat and boarded a wooden boat holding a camera,
Modi had been extensively campaigning in Bengal for the past two days, and BJP sources said he would attend rallies and road shows till April 26.
Around 6am on Friday, he arrived at Gwalior Ghat and boarded a wooden boat holding a camera.
"The Ganges holds a very special place for every Bengali. It can be said that the Ganges flows through the soul of Bengal. The holy Ganges water carries the eternal spirit of the entire civilization.
This morning in Kolkata, I spent some time on the banks of the Hooghly River—an opportunity to express my gratitude to Mother Ganga," Modi wrote on his X handle.
A source said seven boats were booked by the Prime Minister’s Office to ensure his security, and no one had been informed earlier that he would be travelling along the river.
Home Minister Amit Shah has been working day and night - virtually 24X7 - to bring BJP to power.
Shah interacted with the crowd before attending a public rally in Hooghly’s Dadpur. The Home Minister has given himself a punishing schedule.
He has to toil for 16-18 hours every day. Starting his day at 8.30am, the No 2 in the Narendra Modi government is attending three to four public meetings and road shows and drawing up strategies for multiple assembly segments and followed by a slew of meetings that end at 4am.
“Shah has not been having heavy meals at night and is spending hours with leaders and senior BJP functionaries, surviving largely on black coffee,” said a party insider.
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It is understood that Shah’s hectic day normally would begin at 9am. He then boards the private helicopter to fly to various places to address rallies before returning to Calcutta in the evening.
On Tuesday, Shah addressed his first rally at Sukna, which is in the Kurseong Assembly constituency (near Darjeeling hill range).
After addressing the public meeting, he boarded his chopper and flew nearly 470km to Kulti in West Burdwan for another meeting. The Kulti rally was followed by two more — one at Salboni in West Midnapore and another at Chandipur in East Midnapore.
The completion of the four rallies did not mark the end of his day, as a major round of meetings awaited him at a New Town hotel, where he had been camping.
The Home Minister holds a series of meetings in the evening, and the exercise continues till 4am before going to bed. He takes note of feedback from the party's war room for this year's polls.
Stakes are high for Amit Shah. There was a time around Nov-Dec 2014 - when the BJP post-Modi becoming Prime Minister started focusing on West Bengal; Mamata had screamed : "Who is Amit Shah".
Now, in ironical twist of things as far as the battle of West Bengal goes; perhaps Amit Shah matters more for BJP than even the Prime Minister Modi.
Looking back, Shah had focused big time in 2019 and 2021 Lok Sabha and state elections respectively.
In 2019, riding a strong nationalistic wave in favour of the BJP; the saffron party had win 18 parliamentary seats. The vote share was 40.64%. This was BJP's best electoral performance in West Bengal.
In 2024, BJP's vote dropped by around one per cent (to 39.08 per cent) and seats dropped to 12. In 2021, assembly elections, the Lotus party's voteshare was 38.15 per cent and in 294-member it had picked up 77 seats as against only three in 2016.
None other than Shah deserves the credit of making the party fighting fit and 'ready' for wins in West Bengal.
ends
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