BJP Will Bring Back Sonar Bangla, Says Amit Shah (FILE)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday promised that after coming to power, the BJP will be successful in ushering in "true change in West Bengal and turn the state into "Sonar Bangla" (Golden Bengal) again.
The senior BJP leader held a colourful roadshow at Kharagpur town in Paschim Medinipur district in support of BJP candidates contesting the West Bengal assembly election.
Mr Shah claimed that the huge turnout in the roadshow underscored that people want change in the state under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I promise that the BJP government will be successful in bringing ''asli parivartan'' (true change) and ''Sonar Bangla'' will be created again," Mr Shah said in a brief speech at the end of the roadshow.
The roadshow, held between the local BJP office ''Premhari Bhavan'' and Malancha petrol pump, took over an hour to cover the less than one kilometre stretch, as the huge gathering made it almost impossible for the motorcade to move ahead.
Mr Shah was accompanied by BJP national general secretary in-charge of West Bengal Kailash Vijayvargiya and the party's state president Dilip Ghosh.
Thousands of people took part in the roadshow, which began after sundown, while people also gathered on rooftops and balconies in buildings on both sides of the road to watch it.
Mr Shah waved at the spectators and threw rose petals at the participants of the roadshow, with BJP candidate for the Kharagpur Sadar constituency, Hiran Chatterjee, an actor, by his side.
Visibly pleased at the huge turnout, a smiling Mr Shah showed the victory sign at the participants and spectators.
The turnout proved that Chatterjee will surely be elected to the assembly, the Union minister said.
As the wave of people moved forward slowly, the air reverberated with a newly coined slogan, "Ebar BJP" (BJP this time).
The slogan was also written on the decorated truck on which Mr Shah was standing, and in festoons and posters.
Security personnel had a tough time managing the crowd as the number of people continued to rise while the cavalcade proceeded in a very slow pace.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)