Shah's next visit to West Bengal is likely on January 12 next year, said a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) source, requesting anonymity.

 

The source indicated that there is plan for Shah's visit to the state every month till the Assembly elections are concluded there. It is learnt that Shah will stay in the state for almost seven days during each visit to the state.

 

However, the there is no official announcement so far regarding Shah's visits, the matter is still under consideration since the West Bengal BJP unit itself has requested the BJP leader to visit the state every month and stay there for at least a week to attend public gatherings and other activities.

 

The inputs come amid West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh's announcement that Shah will visit the state every month and stay for at least seven days.

 

In his two-day visit to West Bengal last week, Shah took stock of his party's affairs in Bengal ahead of the 2021 assembly elections likely in April or May. The West Bengal Assembly term will expire on May 30.

 

Bengal has been the big challenge for Amit Shah, who had set the state BJP unit a target of 200 of the 294 seats after the party's big victory in the northeast.

 

BJP President J.P. Nadda was on a day-long visit to North Bengal in October and came on a two-day tour to the state last week, while Amit Shah was in the state for two days in November.

 

On his first day of his visit to West Bengal, Shah went to the residence of Sanatan Singh at Balijhuri and had lunch there, sitting on the floor of the thatched house.

 

A chunk of Shah's Day 2 visit in West Bengal was devoted to removing the "outsider" tag bestowed on the BJP by state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with the former BJP chief picking Santiniketan as the centrepiece of his visit. '

 

Santiniketan's Visva Bharati University was set up in 1921 by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, an icon of the state and the university and its surroundings comprise one of the biggest cultural hubs of the state.

 

Shah, whose party has been perennially targeting young voters, visited the university where he paid respects to the poet and visited several iconic buildings on the campus. At mid-day, Shah visited the home of a Baul singer. The Baul folk tradition is focused on the welfare of humanity, beyond caste and creed.

 

During his November visit to the state, he had lunch at the residence of a tribal BJP worker in Bankura and the house of a matua community member in North 24 Parganas.