BJP will not project CM face in Bengal, will seek votes in Modi's name: Samik

BJP will focus on Modi's development vision for Bengal elections, not projecting a CM candidate, says state president Samik Bhattacharya.

Amid speculations on the BJP's Chief Ministerial face in the West Bengal Assembly polls, State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said the party had not taken any decision on the matter and would instead seek votes in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his "development agenda".

Mr. Bhattacharya said the BJP did not distinguish between "organic" and "inorganic" leaders, and that "whoever the people identify as fighters against the TMC's misrule can be the party's face after it wins the polls".

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Pitching the Assembly polls as the BJP's direct battle against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the TMC's "appeasement politics", Mr. Bhattacharya asserted that the party would not project any CM face, and would instead seek votes in the name of Modi and his "development agenda", and also pursue a policy of "detect, detain and deport" against infiltrators if voted to power.

In an interview with PTI, Bhattacharya declined to give a direct reply on whether the BJP's decision to field Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur amounted to projecting him as the party's chief ministerial candidate.

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