PM Modi to visit Kolkata on Saturday to take part in Parakram Diwas celebrations
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit poll-bound West Bengal on the occasion of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary on January 23 (Saturday). The government has decided to celebrate Netaji's birth anniversary as ‘Parakram Diwas’.
PM Modi will take part in the celebrations and later address an event to mark the occasion.
According to Union Minister Prahlad Patel, the first programme shortlisted for PM Modi will be organised at the iconic Victoria Memorial. The second programme will take place at the National Library in Kolkata. Patel said that the Prime Minister will be inaugurating an exhibition and certain restored architectural sites here.
He will also felicitate prominent members of the Indian National Army (INA), formed by Bose, and their family members in the city.
READ MORE: Netaji birth anniversary: Modi government to celebrate January 23 as Parakram Diwas
No political programme has been announced so far for the Prime Minister's visit. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is also likely to be present during these events.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced to hold a 'padyatra' in Kolkata on January 23 to mark the special occasion.
An 85-member high-level committee helmed by PM Modi has been formed to plan year-round programmes to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Bose. Patel said that 200 Patua artists from West Bengal will make a painting on a 400-metre-long canvas depicting Bose's life.
The Culture ministry, he said, is also considering building a memorial in the honour of around 26,000 martyred members of the INA.
According to the Prime Minister's Office, he will also visit Assam on the day. He will distribute over one lakh land 'pattas' (allotment certificates) in Sivasagar, Assam on the same day.
PM Modi's visit to the two states assumes significance as both are headed to assembly polls in April-May.
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