PM Modi to visit Bengal on Jan 17-18, address rallies amidst SIR, ED-IPAC row

Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit West Bengal on Saturday and Sunday for back-to-back engagements, during which he will address political rallies and attend government programmes amidst a political slugfest over the SIR of electoral rolls and the recent ED raids on the TMC’s political consultancy firm I-PAC.

The prime minister is scheduled to address a rally in minority-dominated Malda on January 17 and another at Singur, the area where Tata's small car Nano plant was supposed to come up before it pulled out in 2008 following protests by TMC, in Hooghly district on January 18.

Both locations carry strong electoral and political symbolism ahead of the assembly elections.

This will be Modi's second visit to the state amid the ongoing SIR exercise and his first since the political firestorm triggered by the ED's searches at I-PAC offices on January 8, during which CM Mamata Banerjee had stormed the raid site and had accused the agency of attempting to steal the TMC's election strategy at the BJP's behest.

"The PM will arrive in Malda on Saturday afternoon. He will first attend a government programme and then address a public rally at a nearby ground. On Sunday, he will again come to Bengal, this time to Singur in Hooghly, where he will attend a government programme followed by a public rally," a senior state BJP leader said.

The BJP leader, however, could not confirm whether the PM would have a night halt in Kolkata.

The visit comes against the backdrop of a bitter dispute over the SIR process, with the ruling TMC accusing the BJP and the Election Commission of harassing ordinary citizens through the revision exercise, claiming voters would respond to this "harassment" at the ballot box.

The BJP, however, has defended the exercise, arguing that SIR is necessary to weed out illegal immigrants and "Rohingyas" from the electoral rolls, and has alleged that the TMC's opposition stems from fears of losing a sizable "illegal" vote bank.

On January 18, the PM will visit Singur in Hooghly district, where he will inaugurate, lay foundation stones and flag off development projects worth around Rs 830 crore.

Politically, Singur occupies a singular place in Bengal's contemporary history. Nearly two decades after it became the epicentre of the industry-versus-land agitation that reshaped the state's power map, the area is again at the centre of a high-stakes narrative ahead of the polls.

The BJP has promised to "bring Tata back to Singur" if voted to power, projecting the exit of the Nano car project as a missed economic opportunity and a symbol of industrial stagnation under the TMC.

The ruling party, which rose to prominence riding the Singur and Nandigram anti-land acquisition movements to end 34 years of Left Front rule in 2011, has dismissed the pitch as politically driven nostalgia that ignores history and Supreme Court verdicts ordering the return of land to unwilling farmers.

BJP leaders hope Modi's Singur address will outline a broader vision for attracting big-ticket investments to Bengal, leveraging the enduring perception that the state has remained industry-starved since Tata Motors pulled out.

According to a PIB release, Modi will reach Malda around 12.45 pm on January 17 and flag off India's first Vande Bharat Sleeper Train between Howrah and Guwahati (Kamakhya) from Malda Town Railway Station. He will also virtually flag off the return Guwahati-Howrah Vande Bharat Sleeper service.

The fully air-conditioned sleeper train is expected to reduce travel time by around 2.5 hours on the Howrah-Guwahati route, boosting long-distance travel, tourism and religious pilgrimage.

Around 1.45 pm, the PM will dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple rail and road infrastructure projects worth over Rs 3,250 crore at a public function in Malda.

These include foundation stones for four major railway projects - Balurghat-Hili new rail line, next-generation freight maintenance facilities at New Jalpaiguri, upgradation of the Siliguri loco shed, and modernisation of Vande Bharat maintenance facilities in Jalpaiguri district.

He will also dedicate the electrification of the New Coochbehar-Bamanhat and New Coochbehar-Boxirhat rail sections.

Modi will further flag off four new Amrit Bharat Express trains connecting New Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar with major cities such as Nagercoil, Tiruchirappalli, Bengaluru and Mumbai, besides two LHB-coach-equipped trains from Radhikapur and Balurghat to Bengaluru.

He will also lay the foundation stone for the four-laning of the Dhupguri-Falakata stretch of NH-31D.

On Sunday in Hooghly district, he will inaugurate, lay foundation stones and flag off development projects.

Key among them is the foundation stone for the Extended Port Gate System at Balagarh, including an Inland Water Transport terminal and a road overbridge.

The PM will also inaugurate the Jayrambati-Barogopinathpur-Maynapur new rail line and flag off a new train service on the route, improving connectivity for Bankura district. Three Amrit Bharat Express trains from Howrah, Sealdah and Santragachi to Anand Vihar, Banaras and Tambaram will also be flagged off.