Will Modi also contest from West Bengal?

Kolkata, Apr 21: Senior BJP leader Mukul Roy said that the Bengal BJP unit has approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to contest from a Lok Sabha seat in Bengal.

"We have expressed our desire to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he should contest from any of the Lok Sabha seats from Bengal this time going to the polls in the last two phases on May 12 and May 19," he told reporters.

"He (Modi) has not said anything but we hope he will keep our request," Roy added.

Polling for the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal are being held in seven phases.

According to BJP sources Roy had approached Prime Minister during the rally at Buniadpur in South Dinajpur district in which Modi was present during the day.

The request is a part of an attempt by Bengal BJP to send out a message to the voters about the importance of the state in BJP's roadmap to Delhi.

BJP president Amit Shah has set a target of 23 seats for the party in the state where the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) has held power since 2011.