Modi’s Grand Outreach, Mamata’s Strong Protest, Bengal Enters High Voltage Ahead of Phase 2 Polls

West Bengal turned into the epicentre of India’s most charged political theatre on Sunday, April 26, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi swept through the state in a whirlwind of prayers, rallies, and a grand North Kolkata roadshow , while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee fought fire with fire, literally walking off her own stage in defiance. With the second and final phase of the state assembly elections just three days away on April 29, the political temperature in Bengal has hit a scorching peak .

Modi began his day on a conspicuously spiritual note . He offered prayers at the Thakurbari Temple, the central shrine of the Matua Mahasangha, at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas, a move that immediately went viral. The visit was no accident of piety. The Matua dominated constituencies of North 24 Parganas are among the 142 heading to polls on April 29, and the BJP’s renewed focus on this community reflects their significant role in the party’s 2021 surge .

At the rally that followed in Bongaon, Modi doubled down on his CAA pledge , promising Matua Namasudra community members that they would receive citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Addressing the packed Bongaon public meeting, Modi declared that the “arrogance of TMC has been shattered” in the first phase of voting, and that the second phase would seal a decisive BJP victory . He further questioned the TMC’s founding slogan of “Maa, Maati, Maanus,” saying the party no longer uses it because its own actions contradict those ideals, that mothers have suffered, land has been misused, and people have been forced to migrate.

From Bongaon, the Prime Minister moved to Arambagh in Hooghly, where the attack grew sharper. He pointed to the decline of the once thriving mill and factory belt along the Hooghly River, noting that lockout notices and shutdowns are now more common headlines than industrial growth, even in factories that had survived since the British era.

The day culminated in a spectacular fashion. Modi held a grand roadshow through a 2 km stretch of North Kolkata, starting from B.K. Pal Avenue and ending at Khanna Crossing via Sovabazar, standing atop a saffron themed, flower decked vehicle adorned with lotus symbols as massive crowds lined the streets, chanting “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Jai Shri Ram.”

Mamata Banerjee, however, was not about to be overshadowed. At a rally in Chakraberia in her own Bhabanipur constituency, she accused the BJP of disrupting her meeting , claiming that despite having Election Commission permission, loud music from a nearby BJP rally made it impossible to address the gathering.

In a dramatic moment of protest, she walked off the stage, telling supporters, “I will hold a rally tomorrow at the same spot,” vowing not to be silenced. BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari fired back, calling her behaviour a sign of nervousness ahead of an imminent defeat in Bhabanipur.

At a separate rally in Uttarpara, Hooghly, Mamata hit back at the BJP’s massive campaign deployment, saying, “The BJP is desperate, with 50 helicopters flying into West Bengal , almost the entire Union cabinet and CMs of 19 NDA ruled states camping in a single state.” Her defiance was unmistakable, Bengal, she insists, cannot be bought or bullied.

As the last day of campaigning draws closer, both sides are all in. The battle for Bengal is not just political, it’s personal, passionate, and utterly relentless .