KOLKATA: Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday set a goal of 170 seats for the Bengal BJP in the upcoming assembly elections and announced that he would camp in the state for 15 days during the polls.Shah, who was present at a nomination rally for four BJP candidates in Kolkata, said Suvendu Adhikari would win from Bhowanipore — chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s home turf — and the victory would act as a “shortcut” to trigger a regime change in the state.

“We will win seats one after another and push the number to 170. The change will come after that. I will stay in West Bengal for 15 days during the elections,” Shah said at a rally in Bhowanipore.

The home minister, in whose presence Adhikari filed his nomination, sought to frame the polls as a referendum on CM Banerjee.“I have a shortcut to this. If the people of Bhowanipore can make BJP win here, the change in Bengal will happen on its own,” Shah said, hinting that a state-wide collapse of Trinamool would be imminent once Banerjee is trounced in her backyard.“I told him (Adhikari) to defeat Mamata didi on her own turf,” he said.

“She (CM Banerjee) lost to Suvendu da in Nandigram, though she still managed to form govt. This time, she will be defeated in Bhowanipore and the rest of the state as well,” Amit Shah said at the rally.In the 2021 assembly polls, Banerjee had lost to Adhikari by a narrow margin of 1,965 votes, a result that was challenged at Calcutta High Court. Months later, Banerjee won from Bhowanipore in a bypoll.This time BJP has fielded Adhikari in both Nandigram and Bhowanipore.Shah said people’s quest for “freedom from fear” would lead to a change in the state. “Be it Kolkata, Durgapur or north Bengal, people are looking for a change. They want to be free from the fear of extortion, infiltration, bombs, violence, unemployment and corruption. People want a govt led by Modiji,” Shah said.Election Commission, he said, will deploy adequate central forces to protect them from political violence during the polls.

“Some fear Trinamool’s henchmen will prevent them from casting their vote. Not a single muscleman will be able to stop you from casting your vote this time,” he said.Apart from Adhikari, the BJP candidates who attended the rally were Swapan Dasgupta (Rashbehari), Santosh Pathak (Chowringhee) and Shatarupa (Ballygunge).After the rally, BJP organised a roadshow from the Hazra crossing to the Survey Building, which passed through several pockets of Bhowanipore.

A number of monks joined the roadshow.BJP’s show of strength escalated into a standoff near Kalighat when supporters of the saffron party and Trinamool came face-to-face in the presence of a large police contingent. Slogans and counter-slogans filled the air after some TMC workers waved black flags and shouted “Joy Bangla”.