Kolkata, 22 April (H.S.): Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will remain in Kolkata till April 27, the last day of campaigning for the final phase of polling. A state BJP leader confirmed this on Wednesday.

The second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections is scheduled for April 29, with campaigning set to end on Monday. Shah will also be present in the state on April 23, when voting for the first phase takes place.

Late on Tuesday night, Amit Shah held a crucial strategy meeting at the BJP’s New Town office to review preparations for the second phase. The meeting was attended by district presidents, district in-charges, and observers from areas going to polls in this phase. Leaders overseeing four organizational zones—covering a total of 13 organizational districts—were also present.

Senior BJP leaders Bhupender Yadav, Biplab Kumar Deb, Sunil Bansal, and Amit Malviya also attended the meeting.

According to sources, the meeting began around 9:45 PM and continued until 2:05 AM. Shah is said to have conducted a detailed, constituency-wise review of all Assembly seats under the 13 districts. Discussions covered ground-level political conditions, the influence of minority voters, changes after recent electoral roll revisions, and assessments of strong and weak seats.

Sources added that while Shah already had internal reports on these regions, he sought direct feedback from leaders handling responsibilities at the grassroots level to better gauge the situation.

A leader present at the meeting, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Shah urged party workers to strengthen booth-level organization in every constituency ahead of the second phase and to contest the elections with full force. He also assured that the central leadership stands firmly with the party’s Bengal unit.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey