Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address two public meetings in West Bengal on March 18 and 20, ahead of his visit to Bangladesh on March 26 to attend the golden jubilee celebrations of the neighbouring country’s freedom. The two-day trip to Dhaka will be PM Modi’s first foreign visit in 15 months.
Sources in the party said Modi would address a rally in Purulia on March 18 and another in Contai in Purba Medinipur district two days later. Nine Assembly seats in Purulia district and two seats in the Contai area will go to the polls in the first phase on March 27.
Purulia is important to the BJP as the party’s turnaround in Bengal began there in the 2018 state panchayat polls. A number of BJP workers in the district, such as Trilochan Mahato and Dulal Kumar, were allegedly killed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) goons. Sources said the prime minister was likely to bring it up in his address.
On March 20, Modi will address the meeting in Contai, which is the home turf of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.
Meanwhile, on Monday evening the BJP fielded Kamalkanta Hansda from the Kashipur seat in Purulia.