'Bengal suffering due to TMC misule': PM Modi ahead of his state visit

The Prime Minister will first lay the foundation stone, inaugurate projects worth Rs. 5,000 crores catering to Oil and Gas, Power, Road and Rail at Durgapur in West Bengal's Burdwan district at 3 pm.

Modi will then hold a political rally at Nehru Stadium in the industrial hub.

The Prime Minister wrote on X, "West Bengal is suffering due to TMC misrule. People are seeing the BJP with hope and are convinced that only the BJP can deliver on development. Tomorrow, 18th July, will be addressing a @BJP4Bengal rally in Durgapur. Do join!"

This will be Modi's first visit to West Bengal after his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) elected Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya to its state president's post. In May, he held a rally in Alipurduar.

Modi will hold the rally just a couple of days prior to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Martyrs' Day rally, which is the TMC's annual event.

The Prime Minister's visit takes place a day after Mamata Banerjee, who also heads the TMC, held a three-kilometer march in Kolkata protesting against the 'harassment' of Bengali migrants in BJP-ruled states.

Mamata has accused the administration in BJP-ruled states of labelling Bengali-speaking people as Bangladeshis and detaining them.

The Chief Minister said, "I can speak in whichever language I want. Why are you torturing Bengalis? People are being arrested suddenly, even after showing their documents. They have old mothers and families. What was their fault? Just speaking in Bengali?"

"I will travel across the country and speak in Bengali. Put me in jail," Mamata dared.

Modi is likely to touch upon the law and order situation in West Bengal in the backdrop of the Kasba rape incident where a student was raped by a TMC functionary in South Calcutta Law College.

Monojit Mishra- the main accused- along with two others were arrested.

Ahead of the Prime Minister's visit, the TMC has put up an X post that reads, "The helicopter-giri has resumed, with PRadhan Mantri @narendramodi scheduled to hold a rally in Durgapur today. We hope he makes good use of the opportunity to answer a few straightforward questions: Is speaking Bangla a crime? If yes, does that make him a criminal too for singing the National Anthem and National Song, both written in Bangla.

"If no, why are Bengali-speaking citizens being detained and deported in BJP-ruled states? Which provision of the Constitution allows state-sponsored persecution based on language? And does BJP truly believe this is how they’ll earn the mandate of the people of Bengal?"