Modi to hold 7 rallies in Bengal this week, Nabin to hold 3 on Fri
Times of India | 8 April 2026
Kolkata: PM Narendra Modi is likely to hold seven campaign rallies across Bengal this week. Five of the seven scheduled meetings will be held in south Bengal — primarily in areas where BJP trailed Trinamool by a thin margin in 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Modi launched his Bengal campaign from Cooch Behar on Sunday.
BJP national president Nitin Nabin is set to hold three rallies in north Bengal.
According to sources, Modi is scheduled to hold three rallies on Thursday in Tamluk, Asansol and Birbhum. On Saturday, Modi is likely to address three more rallies in Katwa, Jangipur and South Dinajpur on Saturday. He is then scheduled to hold a rally in Siliguri on Sunday before departing for New Delhi.
Nabin is scheduled to hold three rallies in Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Maynaguri on Friday.
Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, who was in Bengal on Tuesday to take part in a roadshow in Barrackpore, accused TMC of pursuing divisive politics along communal lines.
Referring to Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif's alleged statement regarding a strike on Kolkata, Singh said that Pakistan should not forget that when they tried to launch an attack in Bengal in 1971, the country was split in two and Bangladesh was created.
"If they try to attack Bengal, they will receive a befitting reply. Only God can tell how many parts they will be broken into," Singh said.
Singh also sought to strike an emotional chord with Bengali voters by invoking the legacy of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, promising that a BJP govt in the state would turn the litterateur's ancestral home into a world-class tourist destination.
Accusing the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC of practising appeasement politics, Singh said, "Do politics, but not the politics of appeasement."
Referring to the gherao of judicial officers in Malda and the subsequent observations of courts, Singh said: "Even judicial magistrates were held hostage here. You will not find such a govt anywhere in the history of India or the world."