PM Modi to address three rallies in West Bengal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will intensify the BJP’s election campaign in West Bengal on Thursday with rallies in Haldia, Asansol and Siuri. The choice of venues underlines the BJP’s attempt to consolidate its support in areas where it has made major gains while also pushing into regions considered strongholds of the ruling TMC. According to the schedule shared by the BJP, Modi will address his first rally at 9.30 am in Haldia Township in Purba Medinipur district, followed by another at the Outdoor Stadium in Polo Ground in Asansol at noon.

The third public meeting is scheduled to be held at Chandmari Field in Siuri town of Birbhum district at 2 pm.

Haldia is regarded as the backyard of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and remains one of the strongest bases of the BJP in the State. The party had won eight of Purba Medinipur district’s 16 assembly seats in the 2021 polls and swept both Lok Sabha seats in the district in the 2024 general election.

The Haldia rally assumes significance as the BJP seeks to retain its hold over the district and project Adhikari’s influence in a region that has emerged as one of the epicentres of the party’s challenge to the TMC.

The PM’s second rally in Asansol will be held in the industrial belt of Paschim Bardhaman, once considered a BJP bastion. The party had won the Asansol Lok Sabha seat and one of the two assembly segments under it in 2021. Asansol Dakshin was won by the BJP’s Agnimitra Paul in the last assembly polls.

However, the political equations changed after former Union minister Babul Supriyo switched from the BJP to the TMC in 2021. The ruling party subsequently wrested the Asansol Lok Sabha seat, with actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha winning a bypoll and retaining the constituency in the 2024 parliamentary election.

The BJP is hoping Modi’s rally will help it regain lost ground in the coal and industrial belt, where the party had earlier built a strong organisational base.

The Prime Minister’s final meeting of the day will be in Siuri in Birbhum district, considered a TMC stronghold. Birbhum has traditionally remained under the influence of the ruling party, though parts of the district have long had deep organisational networks of the RSS.

The BJP sees Birbhum as a district where it can expand its footprint by tapping into anti-incumbency and its existing cadre base.

Modi had kicked off his campaign in West Bengal after the announcement of the poll schedule with a mega rally in Cooch Behar on April 5.

With the BJP seeking to revive its momentum after setbacks in parts of Bengal in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Prime Minister’s back-to-back rallies are being seen as an attempt to energise the party cadre and sharpen the contest with the TMC just weeks ahead of the first phase of the assembly polls.

The elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held on April 23 and April 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.