New Delhi: The BJP president Amit Shah, who is on two-day visit to West Bengal to address the party cadre, on Sunday paid a visit to Dakshineswar Temple in Kolkata.
Shah, who is visiting the state for the first time after taking charge as BJP chief, is meeting the office- bearers of the state to discuss the present situation in the wake of alleged repeated attacks on BJP workers.
He is expected to discuss strategy to help BJP expand its support base and make electoral gains in the state with special emphasis on the need for strengthening the party at the village level, sources said.
Shah, who was credited for the BJP's victory in 2014 LS elections, stroked a controversy after he was quoted saying by a television news channel that if communal tension continues in Uttar Pradesh, his party will form the next government in the state.
His remarks didn't go down well with the Opposition parties as both the Congress and the NCP called his remarks 'Unfortunate'.
While urging Election Commission and courts to take cognizance of the matter, the Congress' senior leader Manish Tewari today said that the remark sare nothing more than unfortunate.
Besides him, the NCP's Rajya Sabha MP Majeed Memon said that Amit Shah, who is spearheading a political party, must understand his responsibility. “His statement is unfortunate and dangerous,” added he.
However, the channel later issued a clarification that the BJP president had clearly told the channel that his party never tries to win elections by taking recourse to communal tensions.
(Z)