Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Tarakeswar in Hooghly district, approximately 62 km from Kolkata, on Saturday, 21 June 2025, to mark Paschimbanga Divas (West Bengal Day) — a choice laden with historical and political significance. The visit will double as a major welfare rollout, with the Centre set to launch several flagship agricultural schemes and release the 23rd instalment of PM-KISAN worth more than ₹18,880 crore to over 9.44 crore farmers nationwide.

Why Tarakeswar: The Historical Weight

Tarakeswar is not a random venue. It was here, on 15 April 1947, that the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha held a pivotal meeting authorising Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee to formally push for the partition of Bengal. At the time, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, then serving as the 'Prime Minister' of Bengal, sought to have the entire state join Pakistan, citing its majority Muslim population — Hindus comprised only 42 per cent of Bengal's population at the time.

It was Mookerjee who wrote to Lord Mountbatten opposing this, arguing that Bengal must be partitioned — even if undivided India was not — to ensure that Hindu-majority districts did not become part of Pakistan. By choosing Tarakeswar, Prime Minister Modi is widely seen as honouring Mookerjee's legacy at a moment when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made significant electoral inroads in West Bengal.

PM-KISAN 23rd Instalment: Key Numbers

The centrepiece welfare announcement will be the release of the 23rd instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), under which more than ₹18,880 crore will be transferred directly into the bank accounts of over 9.44 crore farmers across the country. West Bengal alone will see more than ₹900 crore credited to over 45 lakh beneficiaries, taking the state's cumulative disbursement under the scheme past ₹15,000 crore. Nationally, total PM-KISAN disbursements since the scheme's launch in 2019 will cross ₹4.46 lakh crore with this instalment.

Agricultural Schemes Being Launched in West Bengal

Beyond PM-KISAN, Prime Minister Modi will roll out several Central agricultural programmes in the state. Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, the Centre plans to extend crop insurance coverage to nearly 50 lakh farmers across approximately 14 lakh hectares of agricultural land in West Bengal in 2026–27, protecting crops with an estimated insured value of around ₹28,140 crore, backed by substantial premium subsidies.

AgriStack, part of the Digital Agriculture Mission, will also be launched in West Bengal, creating a unified digital platform for verified agricultural services — including fertiliser distribution, Kisan Credit Cards, Direct Benefit Transfers, and procurement under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system. The platform is intended to strengthen digital governance in agriculture and streamline farmer-centric service delivery.

The National Mission on Natural Farming will be introduced in the state to promote sustainable, chemical-free agriculture drawing on traditional Indian practices. Under the approved Annual Action Plan for 2026–27, West Bengal will establish 346 natural farming clusters covering 17,300 hectares, alongside Bio-Input Resource Centres and the mobilisation of 'Krishi Sakhis' to drive adoption of eco-friendly methods.

The Pradhan Mantri Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PMDDKY) will also be launched, covering the districts of Purulia, Darjeeling, Alipurduar, and Jhargram. The scheme focuses on improving agricultural productivity, crop diversification, post-harvest infrastructure, irrigation, institutional credit access, and convergence of Central and state programmes for holistic rural development.

Infrastructure and Development Projects

The Prime Minister will also dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stones of multiple development projects spanning railways, rural development, fisheries, and animal husbandry. The Union government has stated that these initiatives are aimed at strengthening infrastructure, improving livelihoods, and accelerating socio-economic development across West Bengal. The overarching theme for this year's Paschimbanga Divas is 'West Bengal: Heritage, Harmony and Development'.

Political Context

The selection of Tarakeswar carries unmistakable political undertones. This comes amid the BJP's growing footprint in West Bengal, and the venue's association with Mookerjee — an ideological ancestor of the BJP — signals a deliberate effort to embed the party's narrative in the state's historical memory. Notably, the welfare rollout accompanying the visit ensures that the political messaging is paired with direct economic benefits for millions of farmers in a state that has historically been dominated by opposition parties.

As the Centre deepens its agricultural and digital infrastructure push in West Bengal, the coming months will reveal whether these programmes translate into measurable outcomes on the ground.