PM Modi agreed to virtually address people of Bengal tomorrow, says BJP Bengal chief

Ahead of the seventh phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually address the people of the state on Friday, confirmed West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh.

The West Bengal BJP chief said the Prime Minister had to cancel his visit to Bengal on Friday, in which he was scheduled to address four rallies across four districts and 56 assembly constituencies."

"BJP Bengal unit and the voters of West Bengal were looking forward to his visit but we realise the gravity of the situation and the rationale for him not being able to make it in person. We have since requested the Prime Minister to address all these constituencies at one go through a virtual address and we are pleased to confirm that he has agreed to do so," he said.

"Accordingly, Prime Minister will be addressing voters of West Bengal, particularly voters of Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum and Kolkata, through a virtual medium at 5 pm on April 23. On behalf of the voters of West Bengal, we extend our gratitude to the Prime Minister for acceding to our request," added Ghosh.

Earlier today, the Prime Minister informed that he will not be going to poll-bound West Bengal as he will chair high-level meeting to review the 'prevailing COVID-19 situation' amid rapidly increasing coronavirus cases in the country..

Meanwhile, the polling for the sixth phase of the eight-phased West Bengal elections concluded on Thursday with an approximate voter turnout of 79.09 per cent till 5 pm.

Polling for the seventh and eighth phases will be held on April 26 and 29 respectively while the counting of votes will take place on May 2.

( With inputs from ANI )