PM to Visit West Bengal Today, to Attend Govt Programme
17 Jan 2026 9:20 AM IST17 Jan 2026 9:20 AM IST
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
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PTI)
Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit West Bengal on Saturday, during which he will attend a government programme and address a rally, amidst a political slugfest over the SIR of electoral rolls and the recent ED raids on the consultancy firm I-PAC.The prime minister is scheduled to address the rally in minority-dominated Malda in the afternoon.
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. He will then be going to Assam. 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 PM had visited West Bengal on December 20.
The visit comes against the backdrop of a bitter dispute over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with the ruling TMC accusing the BJP and the Election Commission of harassing people through the 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.
According to a PIB release, the PM 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.
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 for 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 Cooch Behar-Bamanhat and New Cooch Behar-Boxirhat rail sections.
Modi will also flag off four 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 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. He will later address a public rally.
The elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly are due in the next few months.
( Source : PTI )
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