Bengal BJP delegation to call on Modi

 A West Bengal BJP delegation would call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Raj Bahvan on Saturday soon after his arrival here on a two-day trip during which he would take part in a number of programmes in the city and also visit Belur Math in neighbouring Howrah district.

"Yes, we will meet him at Raj Bhavan today (Saturday)," BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu told IANS.

The meeting will take place at 5 p.m., he said.

With Modi's visit coming amidst widespread protests in Kolkata and the districts over issues like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, National Population Register and a proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens, the BJP leaders would seek his advice on ways to counter the intense propaganda of the party's political opponents.

With Bengal being one of the states worst affected due to the partition of the country in 1947 when lakhs of Hindu refugees arrived in the state from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), the BJP has been harbouring high hopes of the CAA striking a chord among these sections of the population, which could prove advantageous to the party in next year's state assembly polls.

The BJP leaders are also likely to apprise the prime minister of the incidents of violence and 'deteriorating law and order' situation in the state, the latest being the explosion in Naihati of North 24 Parganas district when the state CID's bomb disposal squad was defusing crackers. The BJP has already sought an NIA probe on the issue.IANS