A day before his visit to West Bengal’s industrial hub Durgapur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a jibe at the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress Government in the state.
Taking to social media platform X on Thursday night, the prime minister wrote, “West Bengal is suffering due to the misrule of Trinamool. People are looking towards BJP with great hope and are confident that only BJP can bring development. Tomorrow, July 18, I will speak at a @BJP4Bengal public meeting in Durgapur. Join us!”
This comes just a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a massive street protest in Kolkata on Wednesday against the alleged systemic harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states. The protest was a direct response to what the TMC describes as a growing pattern of linguistic profiling, arbitrary detentions, and attempts to label Bengali speakers as “illegal immigrants” across various BJP-governed states.
Mamata Banerjee on harassment of Bengalis in BJP-ruled states
“I am ashamed and disheartened at the Centre and the BJP’s attitude towards Bengalis,” Banerjee declared at a rally following the march. She highlighted instances of Bengali migrant workers being detained in states like Odisha, Maharashtra, and Delhi, often on flimsy grounds and despite possessing valid identity documents.
“What right does the BJP have in harassing Bengalis like this, even arresting them and forcefully pushing them back to Bangladesh? Is West Bengal not part of India?” she thundered, questioning the Centre’s alleged role in these actions.
PM Modi visiting Bengal before TMC’s Martyrs’ Day rally on July 21
Notably, the PM’s visit to Bengal comes just three days ahead of Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) Martyrs’ Day rally (Shaheed Diwas) which is hosted on July 21 every year. The TMC has been organising the annual mega rally on July 21 since 2011 outside Victoria House in Esplanade in the heart of Kolkata to remember 13 people who were killed in police firing during a demonstration by the West Bengal Youth Congress, which was then led by Mamata Banerjee, on July 21, 1993. The incident is seen as a turning point in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s political career.
PM to lay foundation stone for multiple development projects
Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone, inaugurate and dedicate to the nation several projects related to oil and gas, power, road and railways. Announcing the same, the PM wrote in a separate X post, “Tomorrow, July 18, I am eagerly looking forward to being among the people of West Bengal. In Durgapur, at an event, I will lay the foundation stone for several projects in the fields of oil, gas, electricity, railways, and roads, and also inaugurate several projects with investments exceeding 5000 crore rupees.”