Far from the glare of its home media, Amit Shah reached Kolkata on Friday to preside over an important gathering for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to select its next Chief Minister of West Bengal after the party swept a historic victory in the assembly elections.
Amit Shah will act as the central observer for the election of the BJP legislative party leader while Mohan Charan Majhi will be co-observer. Senior BJP leaders Suvendu Adhikari and Agnimitra Paul are thought to be in the running for the top job.
The political mood in the state is still a bit uneasy as Mamata Banerjee refused to visit here and formally resign after Trinamool Congress lost the assembly polls. Suvendu Adhikari beat Banerjee in the Bhabanipur seat by more than 15,000 votes, according to Election Commission data.
On Thursday, however, the BJP’s landslide victory led to the dissolution of the state legislative assembly by R N Ravi. The BJP won 207 seats in the 294-member assembly while the TMC got down to 80 seats for the first time since it will have a government in West Bengal. This is also proving to be a key political feather in the cap of Narendra Modi.
Things took a turn for the worse further after the killing of Chandranath Rath, personal assistant to Suvendu Adhikari, by unidentified men on a bike in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas, late on Wednesday night. The motorcycle which was reportedly used in the attack was recovered by police and they’ve begun an investigation into the killing.
However, amidst the high political drama, the BJP is likely to soon finalize its chief ministerial candidate and prepare for swearing-in ceremony of its first government in West Bengal.