After 3 years, as PM Modi returns to Mamata turf, what we can expect

PM will continue with his development pitch, inaugurating and laying the foundation of projects in Hooghly and Nadia districts; but all eyes are on the political message of his speeches

Written by Santanu Chowdhury

Kolkata | Updated: March 1, 2024 01:06 PM IST

4 min read

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on his first visit to West Bengal in three years. (Express photo)

A day after the arrest of former Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman Sheikh Shahjahan who has been accused of sexual harassment and land grabbing in Sandeshkali in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on his first visit to West Bengal in three years.

This visit will kick off the BJP’s Lok Sabha campaign in the state, with the PM addressing two public meetings in two days after unveiling projects, in Arambagh in Hooghly district on Friday and in Krishnanagar in Nadia district on Saturday. The speeches the PM will give are expected to reiterate the target the BJP central leadership has set for the state and take on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the TMC over the Sandeshkali incident. With many ruling TMC leaders embroiled in corruption cases such as the alleged cash-for-jobs scam, the alleged ration scam, and the alleged cattle smuggling scam, anti-corruption could be a major part of the PM’s message.

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The PM’s development thrust — he has visited several states over the last couple of weeks to inaugurate projects — will also continue during the visit. According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Modi will unveil and lay the foundation stone of development projects worth Rs 7,200 crore in Arambagh and projects worth Rs 15,000 crore in Krishnanagar on Saturday.

The PM’s last visit to the state was in April 2021 during which he chaired a meeting at the Kalaikunda Air Base in Paschim Medinipur district. Modi and Banerjee met for around 15 minutes to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Yaas, which had torn through the state and neighbouring Odisha days earlier. The CM’s decision to skip a longer review meeting called Modi triggered a row as then Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay was recalled to the Centre and asked to join work in Delhi on the day of his superannuation.

The TMC supremo has met Modi on several occasions in Delhi primarily to discuss the release of the state’s share of finances for welfare schemes. Banerjee has claimed that the Centre owes the state over Rs 1 lakh crore under various welfare schemes and accused the Union government of engaging in political vendetta, holding several protests on the matter. The Centre, however, has alleged irregularities in the implementation of various of its schemes.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 18 of the 42 seats in West Bengal with a vote share of 40.3%. This time, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has set a target of winning 35 Lok Sabha seats from the state. In December 2023, on a visit to chalk out campaign strategy, Shah announced that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would be implemented in the state before the general elections and that is likely to be a major part of the BJP’s poll campaign to consolidate its support among the electorally significant Matua community.

Meanwhile, responding to the PM’s two-day visit, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “Before and during the 2021 state Assembly polls, they had come to Bengal as daily passengers for campaigning. Despite that, the TMC won over 200 seats in the state. Their visit will not make any impact this time as well as people here with Mamata Banerjee.”

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