Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in West Bengal on March 1 and 2 as part of his official programme and is expected to address a women's rally on March 6 in the North 24 Parganas district, where restive Sandeshkhali is located.
Bharatiya Janata Party sources said Modi will be in Arambag and Krishnanagar on March 1 and 2 respectively on an official tour. The prime minister will also address public meetings, they said.
Modi’s visits in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls come amid an intense political row involving the BJP and the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress after several women in Sandeshkhali accused the regional party’s strongman Shahjahan Sheikh and his supporters of “land-grab and sexual assault”.
There has been speculation that Modi may meet some of the complainants during his visit to Barasat, the headquarters of North 24 Parganas district.
Moreover, a team of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday went to restive Sandeshkhali and has taken suo motu cognisance of print and electronic media reports that in Sandeshkhali, innocent and impoverished women have allegedly been harassed and sexually assaulted. The rights panel said it has issued notices to the chief secretary and director general of police of West Bengal seeking reports within four weeks about violence that allegedly took place, as reported in the media, in Sandeshkhali.
It also sought reports on action taken or proposed to be taken against the perpetrators of the crime, safety and other ameliorative measures taken or proposed to be taken to inspire confidence among the local people and if any compensation was paid to the victims of violence.
Two of Sheikh’s aides, who along with others were booked under charges of gang rape and attempt to murder, have been arrested.
The TMC has sought to play down the allegations and blamed the BJP for prompting some of the complainants to level serious charges against its members.
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