Prime Minister Narendra Modi is back in Assam and West Bengal — both poll-bound states — to inaugurate and lay the foundation of various projects. This will be his second visit to both states in fortnight as his last visit was on February 7. As per his schedule today, Prime Minister Modi will first visit Dhemaji of Assam and will then head to Hooghly in West Bengal. During the previous visit, PM Modi visited East Midnapore region, the home turf of Suvendu Adhikari.
East Midnapore has a significant place in the history of Bengal politics. Over a decade ago, Suvendu Adhikary, then the star face and the second biggest mass leader of TMC, scripted the fall of the Left and rise of Mamata Banerjee by organising the biggest anti-land acquisition movement in East Midnapore. He, however, fell out of favour with Mamata, who has now announced to take on her former party colleague from Nandigram in East Midnapore district.
Today, Prime Minister Modi will dedicate to the nation and inaugurate several projects in poll-bound states of Assam and West Bengal. In both the states, elections are due some time in April-May. In Assam, the BJP is taking on a grand alliance of six parties to retain power whereas in Bengal, it is seeking to end the 10-year rule of Mamata Banerjee.
A battery of top saffron party leaders have been camping in the eastern state to ensure the party succeeds in its decades-long mission of capturing power in what is the birthplace of Syama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh which later became the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the last parliamentary election, the BJP secured over 40 per cent vote share, highest ever which brought down the difference with the TMC to just under 3 per cent.
Prime Minister Modi’s visit comes just four days after Home Minister Amit Shah visited the state and held rallies in South 24 Parganas. Shah has been saying that the BJP will form the next government by bagging over 200 of 294 seats. In 2016, the TMC had cornered 211 while the Congress got 44, CPIM 26 and the BJP just 3 with 10.16 per cent votes.
