West Bengal BJP has turned ecstatic after the Tripura assembly elections and said it would try to wrest power in West Bengal in the same style.

The BJP’s West Bengal team was in Tripura recently for the election campaign. One of the reasons for the Central leadership of the party to send the BJP West Bengal team to the Bengali dominated northeastern state was not only for the benefit of Tripura, but also to acquaint them with the knowledge of making the party competitive in a state within short time period.

The WB BJP team comprised of vice president Biswapriya Roy Chowdhury, Mukul Roy, Locket Chatterjee, Roopa Ganguly, Babul Supriya and others.

After witnessing the rigorous organisatioinal strength the party managed to have in Tripura in just two years, BJP leaders in West Bengal have decided to adopt the 'Tripura model' in the state. The Bengal leaders have also said the BJP is all set to win Tripura elections with two-third majority.

The party has decided to do a door-to-door campaign and hold and protect booths in all 77,000 booths of Bengal. Tripura has 3,700 booths.

Roy Chowdhury told The Week, “We have campaigned rigorously all over Tripura and came to know how the organisational structure was done well ahead of poll. It was really a lesson for us.”

The West Bengal BJP has decided to build up the party in the same line. There would be door-to-door campaign, which would start ahead of the panchyat polls this year.

However, the party admits that the panchyat polls are conducted by the state government, with the help of the state election commission. There would be no Central force along with central observers, and the Central government would have no role to play either.

A BJP leader said, “Panchyat election would be quarter final, and the next year Lok Sabha election will be the semi-final. The real final would be the 2021 assembly elections.”

What really struck the Bengal leaders in Tripura elections is the employment of special observer. ITBP chief R.K. Panchananda, a West Bengal cadre IPS officer, was placed as the special observer in Tripura polls. Earlier, the Election Commission of India had to keep total faith on the chief electoral officer in the state, who is a state’s administrative officer, deputed by the Election Commission. But the engagement of special observers has been a key motivator for the opposition parties in the state.

Besides, the Election Commission has worked hard to weed out fake voters from the voting system. About 10 per cent names from the voters’ list have been deleted in Tripura.

Bengal leaders would also be pressing the Election Commission to do that in the state. The party is planning to ask the Election Commission to ensure there are no fake voters.

About the organisation of the party, the Bengal leaders said the Central leadership would soon name the election in-charge for Bengal. The poll in-charge would come to Bengal within a couple of months and would stay till assembly elections are over.

The choice of leader in-charge has not been left to the Bengal leaders. However, the BJP has decided not to name any chief ministerial candidate for Bengal like in Tripura.

BJP chief Amit Shah would soon touch down in Bengal and would get a report from the state BJP.

Said a senior leader, “If he is not happy, he would change the entire Bengal leadership within few months. That leadership would lead the party till 2021.”