Away from public view, a team of election-hardened BJP leaders from north India camped in the northern fringes of Calcutta to micro-manage the party’s campaign, reshaping its organisational approach in a state where elections are driven by local units.

These leaders divided each Assembly segment into clusters of four to five booths, assigning and briefing local leaders for each cluster. They planned rally schedules and street-corner meetings, oversaw social media outreach, constantly recalibrated strategies in response to shifting ground realities, and kept the central leadership updated.

In Bengal elections, these responsibilities are usually handled by local party units and candidates, often resulting in fragmented campaigns marked by factionalism. BJP leaders brought in from Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Odisha and Tripura were tasked with neutralising these internal divisions and enforcing a more centralised structure.

Their impact was reflected in the results.

BJP candidates registered victories across constituencies in north Calcutta, areas that until recently were considered strongholds of the Trinamool. The party won Khardah by over 24,000 votes, Panihati by more than 28,000, North Dum Dum by over 26,000, Dum Dum by 25,273, Baranagar by more than 16,000, and Rajarhat-Gopalpur by 27,757 votes.

The lone exception was Kamarhati, where Trinamool’s Madan Mitra bucked the trend, retaining his seat with a margin of 5,646 votes.

“Each of these prabharis was assigned an Assembly constituency and required to report daily developments to national general secretary Sunil Bansal through virtual meetings,” said Rajesh Chauhan, BJP vice-president for the Calcutta North suburban district. “These leaders have previously managed elections in states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura, and were brought in with defined roles.”

The team included:

• Kamlesh Purohit from Rajasthan (Khardah)
• Shishubhai Dharma from Himachal Pradesh (Rajarhat-Gopalpur)

• Papia Dutta from Tripura (North Dum Dum)
• Murli Sharma from Odisha (Dum Dum)

• Ladu Lal Teli from Rajasthan (Panihati)
• Satyanarayan Gautam from Delhi (Baranagar)
• Radheshyam Singh from Uttar Pradesh (Kamarhati)

According to party sources, the strategists began by engaging booth-level leaders to assess factionalism, challenges and organisational strengths and weaknesses. Clusters of three to five booths—termed “shakti kendras”—were reorganised, and each pramukh was instructed to focus only on their assigned area.

The outreach to party workers also included informal interactions, with prabharis sharing lunch or dinner with karyakartas. These sessions served as reviews, where campaign logistics, meeting venues within a shakti kendra, micro issues and funding were discussed. Leaders also attended campaign programmes and meetings to identify gaps in management, which were addressed, a BJP leader said.

“In Panihati, Ladu Lal Teli was present for party meetings for Ratna Debnath,” the leader added.

Madan holdout

Madan attributed his victory to “the people’s love for Mamata Banerjee”. “It has nothing to do with individual skill. It was because of Mamata Banerjee, my leader,” he said. “Those who lost did so because of the party, and those who won did so because of the party as well.”

“The pramukhs were told to concentrate only on their shakti kendras,” said a senior BJP leader involved in the campaign. “Once responsibilities were defined, meetings were held with senior mandal leaders in the constituencies.”

Panihati BJP candidate Ratna Debnath’s husband, Sekhar Ranjan, credited Ladu Lal Teli’s management for the victory. “Out of more than 250 booths, we lost only five or six,” he said. “This was possible because everyone assigned tasks by the BJP worked to ensure a big win.”

Feud management

Overseeing the broader operation was Daya Shankar Mishra, known as Dayalu, a UP minister with independent charge of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy).

He coordinated across seven constituencies — Khardah, Panihati, Kamarhati, North Dum Dum, Dum Dum, Baranagar and Rajarhat-Gopalpur — by speaking with mandal leaders, collecting feedback from prabharis and convening meetings.

“Some senior leaders were asked, ‘Aap ko jeetna hai ki nahi (Do you want to win or not)?’ When the party wins, you will get your share of recognition,” a senior BJP functionary said.

Sources added that once candidates were finalised, prabharis met with other aspirants to manage dissatisfaction and prevent internal sabotage, holding multiple discussions to address grievances.

Kalyan Chakraborty, BJP’s Khardah candidate who won by over 24,000 votes, said: “I will not comment on intra-party feuds, but the role played by Kamlesh Purohit and other leaders in inspiring workers towards a singular goal is undeniable.”