Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday appealed to voters in Calcutta and Howrah to give the BJP a decisive mandate in the forthcoming municipal corporation elections, arguing that a “triple-engine government” would ensure seamless development by aligning the civic bodies with the BJP-led state and central governments.
“On the occasion of Durga Puja, standing on the road on this holy day of Navratri, I have one request to make to you. Will you give me what I ask for? Responding to Modiji’s appeal, you have given him a double-engine government. Now, at the request of your chief minister, you have to give us a triple-engine government... Standing on the streets of Calcutta today, I appeal to you to give me Calcutta and Howrah,” Suvendu pleaded with the people.
With the civic polls expected after the festive season, the BJP, which has announced that it will contest independently, is seeking to wrest control of the two corporations.
Suvendu’s appeal signals that the party intends to turn its recent electoral gains into control over urban local bodies, extending its political dominance from the Assembly to municipal administration.
Addressing a victory rally in Calcutta to mark the BJP’s victories in the Rejinagar and Nandigram Assembly by-elections, Suvendu asked voters to complete what he described as the transition to a “triple-engine” system, where the same party governs at the municipal, state and central levels.
Suvendu appealed after leading a victory procession from Muralidhar Sen Lane to Esplanade, accompanied by state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, winners of the twin by-elections, state ministers and party MPs. The leaders later addressed a gathering near Victoria House.
Both Suvendu and Samik claimed that the twin victories marked a decisive shift away from divisive politics towards nationalism and development. Suvendu said the BJP had overcome the perception that it depended exclusively on Hindu votes and alleged that a section of the electorate had been warned that a BJP government would curtail religious freedoms and gradually drive them out of Bengal.
“Despite not voting for the BJP, they have seen that Narendra Modi’s chariot of victory could not be stopped. Now, people have returned to the mainstream of development and reconstruction in West Bengal,” he said.
Accusing the Trinamool Congress of exploiting linguistic divisions in the 2021 Assembly elections by projecting a Bengali-versus-non-Bengali narrative, Suvendu said a united fight had helped the BJP defeat that politics in the 2026 Assembly poll.
“The Rejinagar results have now further proved that those who move away from the mainstream will be lost forever,” he said, claiming that 40 per cent of the promises made in the party’s commitment letter (Sankalpa Patra) had already been fulfilled.
Samik questioned the lack of action against health officials who during the Trinamool regime had illegally shifted equipment from a government hospital to the Sevashray health camps of Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee.