BJP pins hopes on PM’s Durgapur rally on July 18 amid ‘internal discord’

Kolkata: Bengal BJP, which has been grappling with internal discord and organisational weaknesses took a daunting task of sending invitation letters to many households in Durgapur urging them to attend Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s rally on Friday.

The Prime Minister taking part in an event in Bengal is a big event for the state BJP, especially when Bengal is going for a poll in a few months from now. But the saffron party failed to carry out a proper campaign in Durgapur. Meetings, road corners were not even sighted in the area. Central as well as state leaders of BJP carried out inspections at the venue where the PM’s rally would take place on July 18. The BJP workers were seen distributing invitation letters among the residents in the locality. Last Wednesday, card distribution took place in the Gopalmath area. State BJP heavily relied on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but the party failed to secure expected results. Top BJP leaders, including the state of Modi, Home minister Amit Shah carried out campaigns for their party candidates in Bengal but most of them miserably failed in the last Lok Sabha elections. Now with an eye on the 2026 Assembly elections, the BJP might be taking the same approach.

Political analysts were awaiting if Modi sends across any political message from the public meeting. Incidentally, the state’s ruling party Trinamool Congress holds an annual ‘Shahid Divas’ mega rally on July 21, where it is expected to set the tone for the upcoming 2026 Assembly elections in Bengal.

State BJP is desperate to send a message of unified front from the PM’s rally. Significant BJP leadership, including the newly-appointed state party president Samik Bhattacharya, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, and actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty. Interestingly, the former BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh, who has recently been less visible at party events, was going to attend the PM’s rally.

Meanwhile, in a fresh sign of deepening rifts within the Bengal BJP, former state president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday said he will not attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mega rally in Durgapur, asserting bluntly that he was

“not invited”. “I am not going as I have not been invited. As per my understanding, the invitations have been sent according to zones. So when Modiji comes to the Kolkata zone, I believe I will be invited then,” Ghosh told a news agency.

Following the launches of some projects, PM Modi is expected to lead a roadshow from Gandhi More to Nehru Stadium, culminating in a public meeting at the stadium. The Prime Minister is slated to inaugurate, dedicate and lay foundation stones for multiple projects across various sectors, collectively valued at over Rs 5,000 crore. These initiatives encompass oil and gas, power, road and rail infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP from Bardhaman-Durgapur Kirti Azad on Thursday mocked Modi’s rally saying that people of Bengal are not interested to listen to any lies from the PM. In a post on X, Azad said: “Prime Minister @narendramodi: We Don’t expect any lies or Jumla from you in Durgapur tomorrow i.e. 18 July. Give your vision what you will do for West Bengal. Your incompetence has already been highlighted in my press release. I hope you will go through it.”