Trinamool mocks Modi’s frequent visits as ‘daily passenger’ rallies; says BJP won’t gain in Bengal despite the visits
Kolkata: With the state BJP embroiled in factionalism and internal turmoil especially ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s probable visit to Nandigram on June 20 to observe “Paschimbanga Diwas”, a second visit to Bengal in less than a month may set the ball rolling for the saffron camp and also may give “oxygen” to the weakening organisation. On May 29, Modi addressed a public rally in Alipurduar where he had attacked the Bengal government on various issues. The ruling party in Bengal has, however, asserted that the state BJP will fail to make any headway even if Prime Minister Modi visits the state like a “daily passenger”. Referring to ‘Mahabharat’ and ‘Gita’, Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Kunal Ghosh on Saturday asserted that TMC will again defeat BJP as ‘Kauravas’ were defeated by ‘Pandavas’ in the great epic. Terming it a victory of ‘righteousness’ over ‘unrighteousness’, Ghosh said that even if leaders like Narendra Modi or Amit Shah come to Bengal like daily passengers, they will fail to bring fortune for the BJP here. Though there is no official confirmation that Modi will visit Nandigram on June 20. Sources in the BJP said there is a high chance that the PM would visit Nandigram.
According to the political analysts, if Modi comes to Nandigram or Bengal within such a short span, it would carry immense significance in the poll-bound Bengal. The Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari won from this constituency in 2021. Insiders from the Trinamool party were not placing much importance on the Prime Minister’s rallies. They believed that BJP’s top campaigner, Narendra Modi, had not been able to sway the voters in favour of the saffron party during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Bengal. Out of the 23 campaigns (public meetings and roadshow) undertaken by Modi covering 27 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bengal, BJP had lost 20 seats. The BJP failed to retain five seats—Cooch Behar, Bankura, Medinipur, Barrackpore, and Jhargram—despite Modi’s campaign in 2024. Despite Modi’s campaign, Nisith Pramanick, then Union minister, lost to TMC’s Jagadish Chandra Basunia by a margin of 39,250 votes in Cooch Behar. Another Union minister, Subhash Sarkar, lost his Bankura seat to the TMC despite Modi’s campaign for him.
BJP failed to retain Barrackpore and Jhargram despite Narendra Modi addressing rallies in both these seats. When asked to reply to a media question that Bengal BJP may again organise an event on ‘Gita’ recitation this time by more reciters, Kunal Incidentally, the BJP wanted to observe June 20 as “Paschimbanga Diwas” considering Bangla Day (Foundation Day of West Bengal) since on that day in 1947, the decision to establish the state of West Bengal was sealed by a vote in the Bengal Provincial Legislative Assembly. The Bengal government had already declared ‘Poila Baishakh’, the first day of the Bengali calendar, as the ‘Bangla Day’ or the ‘Foundation Day’ of West Bengal.
