Pan-Indian strategy would not apply in West Bengal: BJP's CK Bose

BJP leader Chandra Kumar Bose, who is the grandnephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, on Friday said that a 'pan-Indian' strategy would not apply in West Bengal as the people of the state are "intellectually and politically alert".

Explaining the 'pan-Indian strategy', Bose told ANI, "The people of Bengal are intellectually and politically alert. So, the strategies we apply to other parts of the country might not necessarily apply to the West Bengal psyche."

Bose stated that mindsets of people in West Bengal were geared towards left politics, which is witnessing a change, and the people are ready to welcome other parties to contribute to the development of the state.

"However, I feel that we are not fully prepared to reach out to the hearts of the citizens. My suggestion to the National Executive of BJP would be to understand the sentiments of the people of Bengal," he said.

On the topic of NRC, Bose stated that the BJP should not have given so much publicity to the issue at the point of elections.

"The paranoia created by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party that BJP is planning to drive people out of Bengal has benefitted them. We should have started explaining about the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill first," he said.

Speaking on the BJP administration in Bengal, Bose said, "There are too many factions with the party. We need proper teamwork. Furthermore, BJP leaders in Bengal lack certain leadership skills."

Earlier today, Bose had posted a statement on Twitter asking political parties to take a genuine interest in Bengal.

"Political parties must take interest in Bengal genuinely to work for its people & develop the basic infrastructure for upliftment & not just treat it as a vote bank for political victory. This would not work as the people of Bengal are politically sharp & astute." he tweeted.

This comes after in the results of the by-elections announced yesterday, the TMC won all three Assembly seats in West Bengal, where the by-poll had been held on November 25.

The assembly seats where the by-poll took place were Kaliaganj, Kharagpur Sadar and Karimpur.