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

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.

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