Bolpur (West Bengal): Union Home Minister Amit Shah threw down a challenge to Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee during a massive BJP rally in Birbhum district of West Bengal on Sunday.
Sunday was the second and final day of Amit Shah's tour of West Bengal. The tour was part of the BJP campaign ahead of the assembly elections in West Bengal next year.
Thousands of BJP workers and supporters attended the rally in the Bolpur region of Birbhum district. As Amit Shah challenged West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), a deafening applause rendered the air.
Amit Shah asserted that if voted to power, the BJP will need just five years to transform West Bengal into 'Sonar Bangla' or 'Golden Bengal'.
Amit Shah claimed that the BJP will win more than 200 assembly seats during next year's elections and form the next government in West Bengal.
Earlier, Amit Shah visited Shantiniketan in the Birbhum district of West Bengal on Sunday morning.
After visiting the Vishwa-Bharati University at Bolpur in Birbhum district Amit Shah had lunch at the home of folk singer Basudev Das Baul.
Amit Shah was given a colourful reception with Basudev Das Baul singing a Bengali folk song for the Union Home Minister and several top leaders of the West Bengal unit of the BJP to the accompaniment of traditional musical instruments.
The lunch comprised tradition home made Bengali food, although the fare was strictly vegetarian, keeping mind the dietary habits of Amit Shah.
On the first day of his West Bengal tour, Amit Shah had visited Swami Vivekananda's ancestral home in Kolkata, after which he also went to the Ramakrishna Mission.
Later Amit Shah garlanded the statue of freedom fighter Khudiram Bose in Midnapore and visited reached the Maa Siddheshwari Temple.
Amit Shah also took part in a BJP rally in Midnapore.
On Saturday, Amit Shah had addressed a massive rally in the neighbouring Paschim Medinipur district during which former Trinamool Congress (TMC) minister Suvendu Adhikari and nine MLAs joined the BJP. Five of these MLAs left the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) to join the BJP.
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