BJP national working chief J P Nadda with his party leader performs "tarpan" in Bengal

Kolkata, Sep 27: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national working president J P Nadda will perform "tarpan" for "80 party workers" who lost their lives in political violence in West Bengal in the past few years on Mahalaya on Saturday. BJP National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and party's state President Dilip Ghosh also joined Nadda at the ceremony to perform 'tarpan' (ritual of paying homage to ancestors).

The tarpan programme, a ritual to offer water to ancestors, will highlight the saffron camp's narrative of widespread political violence in West Bengal where the party has made deep inroads in the last few years, BJP sources said on Friday.

"A mass tarpan for 80 BJP workers will be organized at Baghbazar ghat here on Mahalaya. Family members of the slain BJP workers and senior party leaders will be present," state BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu said.

The saffron party has emerged as an alternative to the ruling TMC in West Bengal, with the BJP winning 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, only four less than the TMC.