Amit Shah and Suvendu Adhikari (Image/ANI)

New Delhi: Fielding Suvendu Adhikari – who defeated the CM Mamata Banerjee In his constituency, Nandigram, in 2021 – it was only the beginning of the Union Minister against him in Bhabanipur Amit ShahA determined effort to defeat the TMC supremo in her own backyard. What followed was tough groundwork and precise execution of focused management, which ultimately led to his stunning downfall, leading to the collapse of his party in Bengal – Suvendu’s giant-killing feat was the most dramatic upset in the elections. But behind the headlines was a lot of ‘quiet work’ done under Shah’s watch. Sources in the know in the BJP say that the Home Minister was determined to make every possible effort to defeat Mamata in her stronghold, as she had prepared the way for BJP’s victory.

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With the belligerent Suvendu proving unsuccessful, Shah planned to prepare a dedicated team for Bhabanipur to ensure effective implementation of his strategy. Every night he spent in Kolkata, he held meetings entirely focused on this seat, said a source close to the BJP campaign.Read this also Iron barrier fell, path to Mamata Banerjee’s house opened for publicThe constituency had about 25,000 Gujarati voters and 21,000 Marwari voters, the balancing communities, Shah met their groups separately and they shared their views, an informal dinner provided a cordial atmosphere. These communities alleged that TMC members resorted to strong-arm tactics to prevent them from voting in earlier elections and that fake votes were often cast in their names. “He said that if his society was provided security, they would be able to vote freely. Shah ensured that security arrangements were made at every such place,” a BJP functionary said.

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Shah’s team also appointed a dedicated booth-level in-charge at each booth in Bhawanipur. His job was twofold – to flag any internal rifts within the party and to report any TMC threats on the ground. Shah’s personal goal was to get all BJP workers to vote before 11 am and then work to ensure maximum turnout for the party. BJP members, including MLAs from other states with whom different communities may belong, were also deployed. Through the SIR process, around 47,000 names were removed from the voter list in Bhabanipur – these were either dead voters or duplicate entries which the TMC alleged were exploited to cast fake votes. Eventually all efforts came together and Mamata suffered a crushing defeat by over 15,000 votes, which very few people had expected, although she alleged that the elections were stolen from her and her party through undemocratic means.