Bengal polls: Modi, Amit Shah to campaign for BJP next week, Mithun Chakraborty may join too

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is aiming to oust the Trinamool Congress government through an eight-phase poll battle beginning Mar 27, has a list of key central leaders to campaign along with its party candidates.

Modi and Shah, will campaign in West Bengal for the first two phases of the election on Mar 27, and Apr 1 for 30 seats each.

The Prime Minister is also expected to hold rallies and roadshows on Mar 18 and 20, while Shah will be campaigning for his party candidates on Mar 15 and Mar 19.

30 seats in five districts of Purulia, Jhargram, Bankura, West Medinipur, and East Medinipur will go to polls on Mar 27, while the same number of seat spanned across Bankura, West and East Medinipur, and South 24 Parganas districts will witness the electoral battle on Apr 1.

Shah has directed his party leaders to work for winning 200 of 294 seats in the West Bengal Legislative assembly.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee will be taking on her former lieutenant Suvendu Adhikari, who has recently jumped to the BJP, in Nandigram.

Adhikari, who will file his nomination paper on Friday, has already stated he would defeat Banerjee by 50,000 votes.

Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani might grace the occasion when Adhikari submits his application for a political contest.