The senior BJP leader is scheduled to address a rally of party workers at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. Apart from meeting a few party leaders, he may also meet former BJP state unit president and former Union minister Tapan Sikder.

The meeting will be held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium as Board examinations are going on in the state and there is a ban on the use of microphones.

Sikder, who said he would contest from Dum Dum constituency from where he was elected from twice in 1998 and 1999, asserted that unless he receives a call from Advani or the state party unit, he would not meet him on his own.

“There is no question of my meeting him (Advani) on my own. But of course, I will meet him if I get a call,” Sikder told The Indian Express.

While a large section of the party was not averse to accepting Sikder back into the party fold, the Sangh Parivar is said to be standing in the way of his re-entry into the party which he had left in 2005.

The former minister is now a member of Lok Janashakti, a party set up by another former BJP leader Uma Bharati.

The former union minister has already met party president Rajnath Singh who, according to reports, said he was not opposed to Sikder’s comeback.

According to party insiders, party state unit president Satyabrata Mukherjee was several times requested to hold a press conference and announce the inclusion of Sikder into the party, but so far his response has been lukewarm. “We needed Sikder at a time when the polls were approaching and the party needed a dynamic leader like him. But as of today things are not very bright for his re-entry. But you never know. In politics things change overnight,” a BJP leader said.

The party workers are, however, all geared up for Advani’s visit. “His visit will be a morale booster for the party. Workers will begin their campaign in various districts after receiving his directives,” Rahul Sinha, the party’s general secretary, told The Indian Express.