PM Modi to Visit West Bengal, Address Kolkata Rally and Launch Projects Worth Rs 18,680 Crore

PTI, March 13, 2026, Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit West Bengal on Saturday to address a rally at the iconic Brigade Parade Ground here and inaugurate development projects worth around Rs 18,680 crore, in what will be his first trip to the state after the publication of the post-SIR electoral rolls on February 28.

The rally, organised by the BJP, will mark the culmination of the party's statewide Parivartan Yatra campaign ahead of the Assembly election.

After the surge in the 2019 Lok Sabha election and the setback in the 2021 Assembly election, the BJP's Parivartan Yatra is seen as its most expansive statewide mobilisation in recent years. The yatra, which began on March 1, a day after the publication of the revised electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), crisscrossed nearly 5,000 km across the state, covering 237 Assembly constituencies.

Party leaders describe it as both a mass-contact exercise and an organisational stress test aimed at converting booth-level groundwork into visible street mobilisation.

"The Parivartan Yatra has touched 237 Assembly constituencies, and more than 10 lakh people have welcomed it. Tomorrow, Modi will address the mega rally at Brigade Parade Ground," BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said.

Modi's visit also comes amid reports that the Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for the elections next week.

During the visit, the Prime Minister is scheduled to inaugurate and lay foundation stones for development projects spanning road infrastructure, railways, port, and shipping sectors.

In a major push for road connectivity, Modi will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for several national highway projects with a combined length of over 420 km, worth around Rs 16,990 crore. The projects include sections of NH-19 in West Bengal and Jharkhand and NH-114 in West Bengal, aimed at enhancing road safety, reducing travel time, and improving regional connectivity.

He will also lay the foundation stone for several new highway projects, including five packages of the 231-km four-lane Kharagpur-Moregram economic corridor section of NH-116A.

In the railway sector, the Prime Minister will inaugurate six redeveloped railway stations in the state under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, aimed at modernising passenger amenities and infrastructure.

Saturday's rally will also mark Modi's first public meeting at the Brigade Parade Ground since his campaign address there ahead of the 2021 Assembly election.