2026 Bengal assembly polls: BJP to appoint 'vistaraks' in all 294 constituencies

Kolkata, Sep 22 (IANS) Ahead of the crucial 2026 West Bengal assembly elections, the state unit of the BJP has initiated the process of deploying “vistaraks” (full-time workers) across all 294 constituencies in the state.

If the process proceeds as scheduled, the deployment of “vistaraks” for all 294 assembly constituencies in the state will be completed by the end of this month.

After initial training, these ‘vistaraks’ would be in the fields in their respective constituencies, collecting ground-level information on the prevailing political and social situations.

“Based on their feedback, the party’s state leadership will finalise the poll and campaign strategies for each constituency. The initial list of candidates to be scrutinized for shortlisting is already available, and the total number of candidates is around 500. From among them, the ‘vistaraks’ for the 294 candidates will be shortlisted,” a state committee member said.

Of these 500 candidates, some have prior experience of working as "vistaraks", while some are fresh candidates. There will be eligibility criteria for the final selection of “vistaraks” for the 294 assembly constituencies in the state.

First, the candidate should be a voter from the assembly constituency concerned, and secondly, he should have an in-depth knowledge about the social, geographical, and political situation, as well as the caste and religion-wise population in the constituency.

Preferences, the state committee member said, would be given to those who are graduates and have substantial knowledge about the history of the party. At the same time, those who have a good record of operating as a “vistarak” will be given preference.

According to the state BJP vice-president, Rathindranath Bose, although in the past, "vistaraks" have been appointed in West Bengal before crucial elections, this time the shortlist process is more detailed and hence the process has started at such an early stage.

According to him, even the party’s central leadership wants optimum utilization of the role of the “vistaraks”, and so more emphasis is being given in the shortlisting process.

--IANS

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