Kolkata, June 7 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Nandigram in West Bengal on June 20 to observe ‘Poschimbongo Diwas’ (West Bengal Day).
This will be the Prime Minister’s second visit to the state in less than a month. He had earlier visited Alipurduar in North Bengal on May 30.
Though there is no official confirmation of the visit, sources in the BJP said that there is a high chance that the Prime Minister would visit Nandigram on June 20.
Modi’s visit to Nandigram holds political significance, as the Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, won the assembly constituency in East Midnapore district in 2021 by defeating Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The ruling Trinamool Congress is expected to make a strong attempt to reclaim this prestigious seat from the BJP in the upcoming 2026 assembly elections.
Like much else in the state, the observance of ‘Poschimbongo Diwas’ was sopped in political hues, with the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP choosing to commemorate it on two different dates.
In 2023, Suvendu Adhikari and the BJP announced that June 20 will be observed as Poshchimbongo Diwas as the day holds historical significance for West Bengal. The saffron camp says that during the 1947 Partition, West Bengal was separated from East Pakistan largely due to the movement led by Syama Prasad Mookerjee of the Hindu Mahasabha.
As the proposal to partition Bengal and retain West Bengal within India was passed on June 20, 1947, during a session of the Bengal Legislative Assembly (now the West Bengal Legislative Assembly) in Kolkata, the BJP commemorates the day as the moment of West Bengal’s emergence.
In 2023, the Central government also declared June 20 to be observed as the State Foundation Day, also known as ‘West Bengal Day’.
Days after the announcement made by Adhikari, in September 2023, the state government declared the first day of Boishakh as ‘Poschimbongo Diwas’ — an initiative spearheaded by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to counter the BJP narrative.
Although Mamata Banerjee had urged Raj Bhavan not to mark the occasion, Governor C.V. Ananda Bose went ahead with a programme at Raj Bhavan on the same day, prompting the chief minister to convene a state cabinet meeting, where it was decided to designate Poila Boishakh as the official ‘Poshchimbongo Diwas.’ A special Assembly session later passed a resolution to this effect, although the BJP voted against it.
Though 2024 was the first year to commemorate this day but the state government and the Trinamool Congress had to restrict but due to the busy schedule of the Lok Sabha elections and the Model Code of Conduct, the ruling TMC couldn't celebrate the day in full but in 2025 the state government and the ruling Trinamool Congress observed the day across the state.
The TMC, however, criticised Modi coming to Bengal as a political gimmick before the election. “Modi can come to Bengal whenever he wants. People of all kinds and colours have come before. What has come of it? The people of Bengal have seen the true face of the BJP. Every time they come to Bengal, people will see that they have come empty-handed and are not releasing the pending funds. None of this will help. The BJP has lost before, and it will lose again this time,” a senior Trinamool Congress leader said.
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