With 25 rallies, Bengal no. 1 on PM Narendra Modi's campaign trail this year
Times of India | 19 May 2024
KOLKATA: PM Narendra Modi, who has already addressed 12 rallies in Bengal since the announcement of poll dates, is likely to address five more rallies on Sunday and Monday. Bengal BJP seniors said that with another three rallies scheduled during the last two phases of the poll apart from a road show in Kolkata, the PM's public rallies in Bengal since March would be 25 - one of the highest for a state this year.
Even before poll rallies were announced, Modi had addressed four rallies in Bengal. "He had set the tone during the Barasat rally when he focused on the development of the state and the role of women in that," a Bengal BJP senior said.
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Bengal BJP seniors pointed out that during several rallies in the state, Modi had spoken of a "sweep" by BJP. Instead of the constituencies where BJP fared well in 2019, the PM stressed on states where the party could not perform well. Modi held rallies in and around constituencies like Nadia's Krishnanagar in Nadia and Hooghly's Arambag in Hooghly. BJP was behind TMC in both districts by a small margin in 2019. Modi is also likely to address a rally in Barasat.
"The people of the state are keen to listen to the PM and he has tried to reciprocate. Bengal has a porous border which makes it vulnerable to infiltration. The PM tried to address this in the poll campaign," said Bengal BJP's Samik Bhattacharya.