By Express News Service
KOLKATA: Two weeks to go to the civic poll in Kolkata, the BJP’s municipal election committee is hardly seen active while the Trinamool Congress is campaigning in full swing. Though the saffron camp’s election committee was formed last month, it convened just once and was skipped by many members.
The BJP is scheduled to release its poll manifesto on December 8, but most of the committee members are in dark about the content of the promises that the party is going to make before the electorate of the state capital. Discontent over the manifesto has surfaced within the party.
“A campaign committee headed by Dinesh Trivedi, who defected from the TMC before the Assembly polls, was formed for preparing the content of the manifesto. Trivedi did not discuss the content with anyone in the committee. He prepared on his own and sent it to central observer Amit Malvya. If one person decided what would be the manifesto, why the committee was formed?” asked a member.
Sources in the saffron camp said grassroots-level workers of the party are sitting idle when only two weeks are left for the election. “This section of footsoldiers plays a crucial role in door-to-door campaign. Election committee’s main work is engaging these footsoldiers but the committee is not seen playing active role when the TMC is holding meetings almost every day,” said a senior BJP leader.
A member of the election committee said the leadership didn’t seek explanation from those who had skipped the first meeting on November 28. “This shows the party’s approach towards the upcoming poll. We see no sign of our leadership’s come-back effort after the poor performance in the Assembly elections,” he pointed out.
