BJP president Amit Shah addresses a party rally in Kolkata on Sunday. (Press Trust of India)
On Mamata Banerjee's turf, BJP chief Amit Shah declared war on the West Bengal chief minister on Sunday, asserting that the countdown had begun for the end of the Trinamool Congress government in the state.
"Didi if you can hear and if you can see, please see that I am Amit Shah, a very small worker of the BJP. I have come to Bengal to uproot the corrupt TMC regime from the state," Mr Shah declared at a rally in Kolkata that he got permission to hold only the day before, after his party went to court.
It was his response, Mr Shah said, to "Mamataji wanting to know who Amit Shah is," recently.
There were digs aplenty and allegations in Mr Shah's attacking speech.
He stopped mid-speech when an azan or prayer began at a nearby mosque. "Let us stop. We don't want to give Mamata any excuse," he said, taking a break for almost six minutes. The BJP accuses Mamata Banerjee of vote-bank politics in wooing Muslims, who form 27% of Bengal's voters and made a big contribution to her victory in the 2011 assembly elections.
He accused the Bengal Chief Minister of creating hurdles in the way of an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the recent Burdwan blast, alleging that Ms Banerjee was shielding leaders of her party, the Trinamool Congress.
"Saradha Chit Fund money was used in the Burdwan blast. The NIA is not being allowed to probe the blast properly. Hurdles are being created. It is being done in order to save TMC leaders who are involved in the blast," Mr Shah alleged.
He announced the BJP's intent to win the West Bengal Assembly elections due in 2016, declaring that after the BJP's victory in national elections this year. "It is the slogan of Narendra Modi to make West Bengal free from TMC regime...the victory of the BJP and Narendra Modi will be complete only after it forms government in Bengal," he declared.
The BJP president was speaking at Kolkata's Victoria House after days of tussle with the Bengal chief minister over the venue; the state police had refused permission for the rally and the BJP had to move the court to get permission.