Kolkata, March 23 – Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to participate in a total of 14 election-related programmes in West Bengal over the next month, is likely to begin his campaign from Siliguri in the Darjeeling district and conclude with a large roadshow-cum-rally at Bhabanipur in South Kolkata, sources from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said.
While voting in Siliguri is in the first phase on April 23, Bhabanipur, where a high-stakes contest is expected between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, will go to the polls in the second phase on April 29.
“As of now, it has been decided that the Prime Minister will attend two programmes in Kolkata. One will be at any of the Assembly constituencies in North Kolkata, and the other will be in South Kolkata, and in the case of the latter, Bhabanipur is the automatic choice, considering the high-stakes nature of the contest there,” said a member of the BJP’s state committee.
The 14 programmes will include public meetings addressed by the Prime Minister, as well as roadshows.
The last time the Prime Minister addressed a rally in the state was at Brigade Parade Ground in Central Kolkata, where he stated that a change in the government in West Bengal is now inevitable, and that is already evident in the minds and on the streets of the people of the state.
“The inevitable change in government has been evident in the minds and on the streets of the people of West Bengal. Everyone is clamoring for the Bharatiya Janata Party to come to power in the state. Everyone wants the ‘Jungle Raj’ in Bengal to end now,” the Prime Minister noted, while addressing a large rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, which marked the end of the BJP’s “Parivartan Yatra” amid the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state next month.
As of now, it has been decided that, in addition to the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will participate in eight programmes, including both roadshows and public meetings.
While the BJP’s current national president Nitin Nabin will address seven public meetings during that campaign, his predecessor and the current Union Health Minister, J.P. Nadda, will address six public meetings, confirmed the party’s state committee member.