Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kolkata on Saturday to visit West Bengal’s Nadia district where he will inaugurate national highway projects and address a public meeting. His visit is taking place amid increasing political tension over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his West Bengal tour, will lay the foundation stone of development projects worth thousands of crores in Nadia district and address the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally in Ranaghat. PM Modi wrote on social media on Friday, “He will address a BJP rally in Ranaghat in Nadia district on Saturday around noon. He is excited to meet the people of West Bengal.”
The Prime Minister wrote, “I will lay the foundation stone of development projects worth Rs 3200 crore in Ranaghat in Nadia district.” Referring to the projects, he said that among these, a 66.7 km long four-lane road from Barajguli to Krishnanagar on National Highway-34 will be inaugurated. Apart from this, he will also lay the foundation stone of the project to further upgrade the four-lane road from Barasat to Barajguli section of National Highway-34. This project will further improve connectivity between Kolkata and Siliguri. However, in another post on Friday, he attacked Trinamool Congress and wrote, “The people of West Bengal are getting the benefits of many public welfare schemes of the Central Government, but at the same time they are also troubled due to the mismanagement of Trinamool Congress in every area of the state.”
Modi sharply criticized the ruling party of West Bengal, saying, “Trinamool’s politics of plunder and intimidation has crossed all limits. That is why today BJP is the only hope of the people.” Addressing reporters ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said, “Modi will hold a rally on Saturday at Netaji Park in Tahirpur under Ranaghat subdivision of Nadia. During this, he will address the concerns of the people regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list.”
He said that BJP can assure the people, especially the Namasudras, that no name of any refugee will be removed from the voter list. It is noteworthy that the Prime Minister’s visit comes at a time when the SIR process has created widespread anxiety among the Matua community, a refugee group in Nadia and neighboring districts, with Ranaghat considered one of the largest Matua-dominated areas in the state.
BJP sources said the plan for Mr Modi’s visit was hatched during a meeting held in the national capital with BJP MPs from West Bengal. According to the report, during the meeting, the MPs informed the Prime Minister about the fear and distrust spreading in the Matua community regarding SIR. At the same time, Modi assured that he will address these concerns directly in the Ranaghat rally. He said unless these apprehensions are immediately addressed, the party may face serious electoral challenges in the Matua-dominated seats ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
