Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bengal blows the conch for the 2024 election campaign in the state

Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicks off the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign in West Bengal with his visit on Friday. This marks his first visit to the state since the BJP's loss in the 2021 assembly elections. During his 2-day visit the Prime Minister is expected to deliver speeches at election rallies in districts of Hoogly and Nadia, as well as inaugurate and lay the groundwork for several developmental projects.

The Prime Minister is slated to arrive on Friday afternoon and deliver a public address in Arambagh, located in Bengal’s Hooghly district. He is expected to inaugurate projects which include Indian Oil's 518-km Haldia-Barauni crude oil pipeline amongst others that amount to Rs 7,200 crore at Arambagh. As per his itinerary, PM Modi will then lay down the groundwork for railway initiatives and measures aimed at fortifying the Kolkata port. The Prime Minister will then be accommodated at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata. On Saturday, he is scheduled to visit Nadia district to deliver a public address and inaugurate numerous projects in Krishnanagar.

This is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Bengal following the BJP's loss to the Trinamool Congress in the 2021 Vidhan Sabha Elections. During the 2021 elections, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress clinched victory by securing 213 out of Bengal's 294 state assembly seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party could only secure 77 seats, despite Modi's previous claim that the BJP would comfortably surpass the 200-seat mark in the state. PM Modi’s visit also comes at a time when Sandeshkhali’s Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan, accused of land grab and sexual harassment has been arrested by the West Bengal Police. As per reports, the Prime Minister will meet with the victims of Sandeshkhali during his visit to Bengal’s Basirhat on March 8.

The Trinamool Congress leadership launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister calling him a “publicity master” trying to garner support for the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “The way the publicity master was commuting to and from Bengal ahead of the 2021 assembly elections, seems like he is again going to do the same ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The people of West Bengal want to know two things from the Prime Minister. Firstly, you got 18 MPs from West Bengal in 2019 and whenever those MPs visit Delhi they recommend not to give money to West Bengal and giving attention to them you stopped Rs 1.60 lakh cr of the state for several schemes. The Mamata Government is paying the deprived people of Bengal from its state coffers because of the PM’s anti-Bengal attitude. People of Bengal have another question for PM Modi. Can he suspend Suvendu Adhikari who has been named by the ED, the CBI and in 20 other FIRs?” said TMC Rajya Sabha MP Shantanu Sen.

Bengal Minister of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, Dr. Sashi Panja asked the Prime Minister if he could hear the'Mann Ki Baat' and felt and resonate with the pain of the people of the state. "Can you hear the 'Mann Ki Baat' of MGNREGA-deprived beneficiaries of Bengal? Are you aware that you have stopped the funds and not just held the funds? They are being paid by the Mamata Banerjee govt. Do you feel their concerns?" said Panja.