#ShahInBengal: Anti-BJP posters dot venue, TMC blamed by saffron party
What's the story
BJP President Amit Shah will be addressing a rally in West Bengal on Saturday, and ahead of the big event, anti-BJP posters have cropped up at the venue.
The BJP called it a handiwork of ruling Trinamool Congress, but the latter has denied the allegations.
Organized by the party's youth wing, Shah is expected to address 2 lakh workers at Mayo Road, Kolkata.
Placards
TMC is scared of BJP, says Dilip Ghosh
Posters bore the messages: 'Anti-Bengal BJP go back', and 'BJP, leave Bengal'. They also had flags of the TMC.
Notably, West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh said this showed TMC was afraid of them.
"The people of the state will decide in the coming days who will stay and who will leave," Ghosh added.
What happened
Earlier, PM too was 'welcomed' by posters in Bengal
Meanwhile, Bengal's education minister Partha Chatterjee said TMC has nothing to do with the posters. Notably, the path which Shah is scheduled to take had cutouts of Mamata Banerjee, TMC supremo and CM.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Midnapore, less than a month ago, similar posters had appeared.
Back then, he said TMC and Banerjee welcomed him in the state.
Preparations
To avoid PM rally's fate, Jharkhand decorators called to venue
It should be noted that Modi's rally in Midnapore wasn't as smooth as the BJP wanted, as a tent had collapsed.
To avoid a repeat, decorators have been called from Jharkhand to prepare the venue. This time the party has decided against making make-shift tents.
Trained volunteers are tasked with managing the crowd. A BJP leader said efforts were on to make everything seamless.
Do you know?
BJP hopes to increase votes tally from 2014
In 2014 elections, BJP won just two out of 42 Lok Sabha seats, and this time the party is hoping to perform better. While BJP is targeting TMC's 'failure to develop the state', and violence, Banerjee is looking to bring parties together for a united Opposition.