Has Bihar 'debacle' forced BJP not to 'overuse' PM Modi in West Bengal polls?

The BJP seems to have learned tough lessons from its recent electoral drubbing in Bihar and it has reportedly decided not to overuse PM Narendra Modi during assembly polls in West Bengal later this year.

New Delhi: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to have learned tough lessons from its recent electoral drubbing in Bihar and the party has reportedly decided not to overuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi during assembly polls in West Bengal later this year.

As per reports, the saffron party has decided to use PM Modi only when the electioneering reaches its peak in West Bengal.

While BJP will contest most of the 294 seats of the West Bengal Assembly, the Prime Minister will remain the party's main poster boy during elections here.

As per the new strategy, PM Modi will join the party's election campaign only when it reaches the peak.

Modi will be joined by other top party leaders like Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and party chief Amit Shah, say reports.

Bengal, where the saffron party barely has a toehold, will be a major test for BJP, which is trying to improve its performance by increasing the vote share, which has risen from 6% to 17% in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls at the height of the Modi wave.

The BJP aims to base its election campaign against the ruling Trinamool Congress on four main issues - corruption that will essentially highlight Saradha and other chit fund scams, criminalisation of politics that is linked to terror activities in the state, women's safety and non-development of the state.

The BJP is also sure of CBI possibly arresting more people and reopening old chit fund scams like Sanchaita, which it could use as a tool to attack the Mamata regime here.

The saffron party is also counting on the fact that PM Modi declassifying the Netaji files on Subhash Bose's birth anniversary on January 23, will create some ripples and even draw some of the Forward Bloc's voters towards it.