Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit West Bengal today to address a rally at the iconic Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata and inaugurate development projects worth around Rs 18,680 crore, officials said. The visit will be his first to the state following the publication of the post-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral rolls on February 28.
The rally, organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will mark the culmination of the party’s statewide Parivartan Yatra campaign ahead of the Assembly election. Launched on March 1, a day after the revised electoral rolls were released, the yatra has crisscrossed nearly 10,000 km across West Bengal. Party leaders describe it as both a mass-contact exercise and an organisational stress test, aimed at converting booth-level outreach into visible street mobilisation.
According to official data released after the SIR exercise, 63.66 lakh names—about 8.3 per cent of the electorate—have been deleted, reducing the state’s voter base from roughly 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore. In addition, more than 60.06 lakh electors have been placed under the “under adjudication” category, meaning their eligibility will be determined through legal scrutiny in the coming weeks. PM Modi’s visit comes amid reports that the Election Commission may announce the election schedule next week.
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During his visit, the Prime Minister is expected to inaugurate and lay foundation stones for development projects across roads, railways, and ports. In a major push for road connectivity, he will launch national highway projects spanning over 420 km, worth approximately Rs 16,990 crore. Projects include sections of NH-19 in West Bengal and Jharkhand, as well as NH-114, aimed at improving road safety, reducing travel time, and enhancing regional connectivity. He will also lay the foundation stone for five packages of the 231-km, four-lane Kharagpur-Moregram economic corridor section of NH-116A.
In the railway sector, Modi will inaugurate six redeveloped stations under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, which focuses on modernising passenger amenities and infrastructure. These initiatives are part of a broader development push in the state aimed at strengthening transportation and regional growth.
Saturday’s rally will also be the Prime Minister’s first public meeting at the Brigade Parade Ground since his campaign address there ahead of the 2021 Assembly election, underscoring the political and developmental significance of his visit.
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