• Source:JND
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will today hold key public meetings in Cooch Behar as part of their campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. This is the area where the BJP has garnered significant political gains since the 2019 polls.

This is a rare occasion when PM Modi and Bengal CM Mamata will be addressing rallies in a constituency on the same day.

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The focus of the campaign by both leaders will be on North Bengal’s Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri seats. The voting on these seats will take place on April 19 in the first of the seven phases.

The TMC won all three aforementioned seats in the 2014 election but BJP wrested them from the former in 2019. Two of the winners, Nisith Pramanik from Cooch Behar and John Barla from Alipurduar are serving as Union ministers of state.

Modi will address one rally in Cooch Behar today while Mamata will be holding two public meetings.

In 2019 polls, the BJP won 18 of 42 seats while Mamata-led TMC amassed 22. Congress, however, managed to win only 2 seats.

The Election Commission (EC) sounded the poll bugle after announcing the schedule of the high-stakes Lok Sabha polls. The BJP has been vehemently working to surpass the 400-seat mark, a target set by PM Modi while the Opposition will try to counter the mighty BJP through a joint fight. Moreover, the saffron party has been fervidly raising the Sandeshkhali issue during its poll campaign. An alleged victim of the Sandeshkhali incident has also been given a poll ticket by the BJP.

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The TMC, however, announced it would contest all the seats in Bengal and not form an alliance with the Congress. It has announced the candidates for all the seats.    

Several incidents of violence have also been reported from Bengal but the ED is proactively working towards ensuring free and fair elections.