PM Modi to Target Tribal Belts with Four Bengal Rallies Today

Kolkata (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address four rallies across West Bengal’s tribal-dominated constituencies this Sunday as campaigning intensifies for the state’s two-phase Assembly elections.

A BJP state committee member noted that the Prime Minister plans to emphasize two main points. First, he will address the grievances of tribal communities and accuse the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of ignoring their demands for the last 15 years.

Second, the Prime Minister intends to highlight the recent controversy involving an alleged insult to President Droupadi Murmu during her visit to West Bengal for an international Santal community seminar.

The Prime Minister also plans to launch a scathing attack against the TMC and other opposition parties for blocking the Women’s Reservation (Amendment) Bill.

Rally Schedule:

• 11:00 a.m. – Barjora, Bankura district

• 12:45 p.m. – Purulia, Purulia district

• 02:45 p.m. – Jhargram, Jhargram district

• 04:30 p.m. – Medinipur, West Midnapore district

A political firestorm erupted following the Prime Minister’s national address on Saturday night. In that speech, he expressed deep regret and apologized to the women of India after the defeat of the Constitutional Amendment Bill.

The Trinamool Congress quickly countered with a statement calling the Prime Minister’s address “self-pitying and pretentious.” The party accused him of weaponizing women’s representation to hide a “delimitation conspiracy.”

“The Prime Minister should have apologized when women suffered in Manipur or Bihar,” the TMC statement read, further accusing BJP leaders of committing acts of sexual violence and making misogynistic remarks in public.

CPI(M) Politburo member and state secretary Md Salim also criticized the address, claiming the Prime Minister intends to mislead the public and promote divisive politics. He argued that the government deliberately tied the Women’s Bill to controversy to postpone reservation.

Conversely, the West Bengal BJP unit maintained that the Prime Minister’s message clearly exposed how opposition parties used the delimitation issue to block progress for women.