After a gap of nearly 18 years, Singur has once again emerged as a focal point of West Bengal’s political landscape ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, with both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee choosing the politically sensitive Tata Motors land as the stage for major events within days of each other.
Prime Minister Modi attended a government programme and addressed a political rally at Singur on January 18, while the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has announced that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a government programme and a political rally at the same venue on January 28. Sources at Nabanna, the sate secretariat, said the Chief Minister is expected to announce a series of welfare schemes from the administrative meeting, while TMC insiders said her rally would directly counter the Prime Minister’s sharp criticism of the state government.
Addressing the gathering in Singur, Modi accused the TMC government of fostering lawlessness, obstructing development, and following “anti-people” policies that have discouraged investment in the state. Without directly referring to Tata Motors’ exit from Singur in 2008 following a fierce anti-land acquisition movement led by Mamata as an opposition leader, the Prime Minister said industrial growth was impossible in an atmosphere of fear.
“Investment requires rule of law, not maha jungleraj,” Modi said. “In Bengal, looters, rioters and mafias are enjoying a free hand. Development will come only when the BJP comes to power.”
However, Modi’s speech disappointed sections of BJP workers and locals who had expected a major announcement on industrialisation from the very land where the Tata Nano project once stood. No specific promise regarding new industries for Singur was made, triggering speculation about missed political opportunity.
Now, all eyes are on Mamata Banerjee’s January 28 programme. Sources said the Chief Minister will launch the first instalment of the state government’s ambitious Banglar Bari (Houses for Bengal) scheme, under which 1.6 million families will receive financial assistance to build permanent homes. Each beneficiary family will receive ₹1.20 lakh directly into their bank accounts, with the total expenditure expected to exceed ₹19,200 crore, apart from administrative costs.
According to officials, no government in Bengal has ever spent such a massive sum on a single project within such a short period. The scheme is expected to benefit nearly 6 to 8 million people, especially among the rural poor, and is being seen as a major political and administrative milestone ahead of the elections. The state has already allocated ₹14,500 crore for 1.2 million families under the project in the current financial year.
Political analysts are drawing parallels with Bihar, where the Nitish Kumar–Narendra Modi government’s women’s employment scheme, which provided ₹10,000 annually each to 12 million women, was seen as a key factor behind the NDA’s electoral success. In contrast, the Banglar Bari scheme aims to create permanent assets, adding to existing welfare measures such as Lakshmir Bhandar, under which women in Bengal receive ₹12,000 annually.
Singur holds deep symbolic value for Mamata. Her agitation against land acquisition in Singur played a decisive role in ending the Left Front’s 34-year rule and bringing the TMC to power in 2011. Even after the 2016 elections, Mamata returned to Singur and sowed mustard seeds on the disputed land, reinforcing its political symbolism. However, nearly 1,000 acres of land continues to lie uncultivated, even though Mamata Banerjee had promised to bring back agriculture after her party’s Supreme Court victory over the Left Front’s land acquisition policy.
Political observers believe the Chief Minister’s decision to announce Banglar Bari from Singur is a calculated move — aimed at countering Modi’s narrative while reclaiming a site historically associated with her rise to power. The move reflects the TMC’s strategy of immediate political counteraction, a tactic Mamata has often described as “taking back every inch.”
Within the BJP, some leaders maintain that the Prime Minister’s campaign in Bengal has only just begun and that major announcements may come later. “There is no scope for impatience,” a state BJP committee member said, adding that Modi is expected to visit Bengal several more times during the campaign.
With Singur once again becoming a battleground of perceptions, promises and political symbolism, the clash between Modi and Mamata at the iconic site underscores that the 2026 Assembly election campaign in West Bengal has well and truly begun.
Also read: Mamata lays foundation for grand Mahakal Mandir in Siliguri
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