Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee are scheduled to address back-to-back Lok Sabha campaign rallies on Thursday at Cooch Behar in north Bengal, a region where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made maximum electoral gains since the 2019 elections.
In this election season, this is the first time that Modi and the Trinamool Congress chairperson will be addressing voters of a constituency on the same day.
North Bengal’s Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri seats, all named after the three districts where they are located, are going to the polls on April 19 in the first of the seven phases Bengal will witness.
The BJP wrested all three seats from the ruling TMC in 2019. Two of the winners, Nisith Pramanik from Cooch Behar and John Barla from Alipurduar, are serving as Union ministers of state.
On Thursday, Modi is scheduled to address one rally in Cooch Behar, while Banerjee will address two, their parties announced on Wednesday night.
In 2019, the BJP bagged 18 of the state’s 42 Lok Saha seats, creating a record. While in North Bengal, it secured seven of the eight seats. The eastern state’s main opposition force plans to win at least 25 seats this year.
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