Prime Minister Narendra Modi will likely address a major political rally on Saturday at the historic Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, marking the culmination of the Bharatiya Janata Party's statewide Parivartan Yatra ahead of the upcoming West Bengal Legislative Assembly election.
The BJP's West Bengal unit expects a record turnout, with supporters travelling from across the state to attend the rally.
Preparations are underway at the venue, with multiple stages taking shape to accommodate the large gathering.
Authorities have deployed thousands of police personnel and imposed traffic restrictions in several parts of the city to manage security and regulate the anticipated crowd.
According to Raju Banerjee, organisational preparations for the rally are progressing rapidly. He, however, declined to disclose the exact number of stages being set up at the venue, citing security protocols.
During the visit, the Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay foundation stones for infrastructure and connectivity projects worth around Rs 18,680 crore.
These include national highway developments valued at about Rs 16,990 crore covering more than 420 kilometres of road projects aimed at improving road safety, reducing congestion, cutting travel time and boosting regional connectivity and economic growth in eastern India.
The 231-km Kharagpur-Morgram Economic Corridor is the most significant project, planned as a four-lane highway.
The corridor will likely reduce the distance between Kharagpur and Siliguri by about 120 km and cut travel time by around eight hours.
The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for the Dubrajpur Bypass on National Highway 14, along with new bridges over the Kangshabati River and Silabati River to further strengthen highway connectivity.
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister is likely to attend programmes in Silchar before travelling to Kolkata for the rally and other engagements in West Bengal.