Lamenting its inability to make much of a headway in West Bengal, the BJP on Wednesday called upon leaders and party activists to rise above internal bickering and cultivate people's disgust for the ruling Trinamool Congress to dismantle the Mamata Banerjee government in the state.
In a 'Chintan Sabha' organised by the BJP's state intellectual wing here, leaders including Rajya Sabha member Chandan Mitra, state unit president Rahul Sinha and party in-charge for the state Kailash Vijayvargiya harped on the need for a collective movement against the Trinamool and reaching out to the masses.
On the occasion, former union minister and party leader Satyabrata Mookherjee stressed the need for putting the focus back on development.
"It was the plank of development which brought the BJP to power at the centre. But unfortunately now, development has taken a back seat and we are more concerned about other irrelevant issues.
"We need to set out priorities and development has to be the focus. We cannot afford to harp on irrelevant issues and indulge in needless politics over them," said Mookherjee.
Sinha, who has been facing murmurs of dissent within his own party, urged workers to forget internal differences.
"The saddest part is in the land of (Jan Sangh founder) Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, we have not been able to make much of progress. We still have time, we need to forget our own differences and cultivate the peoples' disgust for the Trinamool," said Sinha.
"This is not the time to find faults with ourselves or show our discontent. It's time we collectively stand up against the misrule of Trinamool and dismantle the Mamata government," exhorted Sinha.
Incidentally, when Sinha was being welcomed on the dais, some people in the auditorium shouted out blaming him for the party's poor performance and called for his removal as the state president.
Assuring that he will devote more time for the party in the state, Vijayvargiya called upon party activists to strengthen Prime Minster Narendra Modi's hands in his endeavour to reaffirm India's stand on the globe.
"We are fortunate to have Modi as our leader who is not only the country's leader but is on his way to become a global leader. At a time when he has reaffirmed India's stand on the world map, let us not sit back but work collectively and strengthen his hands," said Vijayvargiya.
Calling upon the leaders and the intellectual cell to come up with suggestions for strengthening the party base in the state, Mitra stressed the need for reaching out to the masses.
"A party gains ground only when it can jump to the rescue of people who are in need and in distress. We need to constantly endeavour to reach out the masses and lend our voice to the needy and oppressed," said Mitra.
