After two back to back rallies in Siliguri and Kolkata on April 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have a third rally in on April 7 in Cooch Behar in the election season.
It is significant that the PM is holding so many public meetings in Bengal and indicates how important the state is for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for Lok Sabha 2019. There are talks of holding another rally for PM Modi on April 10, though it has not yet been finalised. This may be in Balurghat.
Bengal will have the first phase of elections on April 11 – in two constituencies, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar.
There was a lot of discontent in Cooch Behar over the party’s selection of candidate, Nishish Pramanik, who has as many as 11 criminal cases pending against him. The Trinamool Congress – which had expelled Pramanik after which he had joined the BJP – has already approached the Election Commission seeking his arrest, saying he will be “a threat to holding peaceful elections in the Coochbehar constituency.”
The 33-year-old candidate has cases pending against him that includes preparing for dacoity, possessing illegal arms, attempt to murder, rioting related cases, under the Explosives Act and for outraging the modesty of a woman.
While Pramanik has claimed that the charges are false, there have been objections even from among BJP workers who vandalised their own party office in protest. The party workers alleged that the BJP leadership in Delhi had taken bribe to nominate Pramanik.
Later however, the senior leadership had taken initiatives asking them to contain their anger and frustrations, and to project the face of unity.
The state BJP is therefore, all the more trying to bring PM Modi to the constituency hoping the Modi magic will be able to bring in the votes and also encourage the party workers there.
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