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Modi to kickstart Mission Bengal with public rally

NEW DELHI/KOLKATA : The BJP has shifted its attention from what its leaders are calling Fateh Bihar to an ambitious Mission Bengal, but insiders admit that West Bengal will be far more challenging than Bihar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi may kick off the poll campaign in the second week of December, followed by a strategy tour of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Modi may address a rally in Hooghlys Arambag on December 13 or 14, followed by Bhagwats six-day tour beginning December 18. Hindu organisations will also hold a Panch Lokkho Konthe Gita Path at the Brigade Parade Ground on December 7 to consolidate Hindu voters. Party functionaries said the demographic mix in several Bengal districts, even after the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, remains formidable and favourable for the ruling Trinamool Congress. The BJP has drawn up a fresh strategy for the 2026 Assembly polls. Bengal might not go the way Bihar did because caste dynamics dont play the same role here, a senior functionary said. He added that the BJPs focus would be on consolidating Hindu voters who are less outspoken even after being subjected to exploitation by rowdy elements of a particular community enjoying government patronage. The state has been divided into 56 organisational zones, each monitored by senior leaders from outside Bengal. The party is spotlighting alleged law-and-order failures and Jungle-Raj under TMC, echoing its Bihar campaign. With women and youth, we will take the same approach that helped us in Bihar, a BJP leader said, citing the Prime Ministers recent assertion that Bengal bhi mukt hoga Jungle-raj se jald. As the SIR continues, the party expects large deletions of dead and bogus voters, which it claims will reduce the TMCs advantage. The BJP has set up more than 71,000 booth committees and brought in leaders such as Bhupender Yadav, Biplab Deb, Amit Malviya and Sunil Bansal to strengthen ground operations.