The Trinamul Congress is likely to hold a counter-rally in Birbhum where Union home minister Amit Shah will address BJP workers on Friday.

Mamata Banerjee’s party is unwilling to waste time in mitigating the Shah challenge on its Birbhum turf, in the absence of Trinamul’s district strongman Anubrata Mondal.

Sources in the Trinamul leadership said they were planning a counter-rally that would be addressed by a number of seniors, including minister and Calcutta mayor Firhad Hakim, this weekend.

“We are not leaving anything to chance. This is Shah’s first rally in Bengal since May last year and the district has been strategically chosen by the BJP in the unfortunate absence of Keshto (Mondal),” said a Trinamul MP, referring to the incarceration of Mondal in Delhi by central agencies in the cattle smuggling case.

Shah is slated to address a public rally at the grounds of Suri Benimadhab Institution on Friday. His visit is part of the BJP’s programme to focus on 24 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bengal that it did not win in 2019. Shah and BJP national chief J.P. Nadda will each visit 12 of these constituencies in order to give the party’s organisation a boost.

A day ahead of his two-day visit to the state, Trinamul on Thursday held a news conference, posing five questions for Shah to answer.

In the news conference addressed by Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra and minister Partha Bhowmick, Trinamul mounted a scathing offensive on Shah and asked him the following questions.

■ How could Shah have a “corrupt” leader of the Opposition (Suvendu Adhikari), while repeatedly claiming that the BJP does not endorse corruption?

■ Why are Bengal workers yet to be paid under the 100-day employment guarantee scheme, with the Centre withholding Rs 7,500 crore under this head?

■ Since his claims of hanging rioters upside down (in the Bihar context), what action has Shah taken against Howrah riot-accused Sumit Shaw, seen with BJP leaders in multiple photos?

■ What action has been taken against (saffron camp) leaders who repeatedly disrespect women?

■ Why are BJP leaders seen hobnobbing with the “coal mafia” in Bengal?