Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday participate in the Paschimbanga Divas (State Foundation Day) celebrations organised by the BJP government in Hooghly’s Tarakeshwar, where Syama Prasad Mookerjee had held a Hindu Mahasabha convention in 1947.

The saffron ecosystem claims that a resolution passed at the convention helped ensure that present-day West Bengal remained a part of India rather than becoming part of East Pakistan in 1947.

Modi will be in Calcutta on a two-day visit from Saturday.

While he will attend the Paschimbanga Divas programme at Tarakeshwar on Saturday, he will lead the 12th International Yoga Day celebrations at Red Road on Sunday.

BJP leaders said Saturday’s programme in Tarakeshwar was significant because it would be the first time since Independence that June 20 would be officially observed as the State Foundation Day by a state government. They said the date and its historical significance had been downplayed by the previous governments.

“June 20 is going to be a day of pride for us because, after Independence, this is the first time the date will be officially observed as Paschimbanga Divas or Statehood Day. Though Jana Sangh leaders and later the BJP have been observing June 20 as Bengal’s Statehood Day for the past 75 years, this is the first time that the Bengal government will organise the event,” said BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya.

“This observance will help people, particularly the youth of the state, learn about the history behind the formation of West Bengal,” he added.

Bhattacharya said that the government would introduce the relevance of June 20 as the statehood day and the role of Syama Prasad Mookerjee in the syllabus later. “When the government prepares a new syllabus, the history of June 20 will be a part of it.”

Earlier, the Mamata Banerjee government had passed a resolution in the Assembly to observe the State Foundation Day on Poila Boishakh, a move that the BJP had opposed as the principal Opposition party.

The BJP had last year observed June 20 as Statehood Day in the Bengal Assembly to protest against the Trinamool Congress government’s decision.

Mookerjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the ideological predecessor of the BJP, had organised a four-day convention at Tarakeshwar in Hooghly from April 4 to 7, 1947, where a decision was taken to ensure that West Bengal remained within India and that the Hindu-majority areas of undivided Bengal did not become part of East Pakistan. Later, on June 20, 1947, a resolution supporting the partition of Bengal and the inclusion of West Bengal in India was passed in the Bengal Legislative Assembly, where Mookerjee was the sole Hindu Mahasabha MLA.

The Prime Minister is expected to address thousands of people from different districts across Bengal at Tarakeshwar. PWD minister Ajay Kumar Poddar has visited the venue to review preparations for the programme.

“Five hangars have been set up, where over 1.5 lakh people can sit and witness the celebrations. People from across the state will participate in the event on Saturday,” said BJP’s Tarakeshwar MLA Santu Pan, who has been supervising the preparations on the ground.

Apart from the main programme in Tarakeshwar, Paschimbanga Divas will be observed at various locations and educational institutions across the state on Saturday.

A source said Modi would launch a series of development projects for Bengal and lay the foundation stones for several schemes from the Tarakeshwar dais. He is expected to roll out key agricultural initiatives, including the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Dhana-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana. Besides these, he will release the latest instalment of the PM-Kisan scheme worth ₹18,880 crore, benefiting more than 9.44 crore farmers across the country.

According to the schedule, Modi will arrive in Calcutta on Saturday afternoon and proceed to Tarakeshwar. He will stay in Calcutta and lead the 12th International Yoga Day celebrations on Sunday. More than 50,000 people are expected to participate in the event, along with the Prime Minister, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari and other dignitaries.

Suvendu said a special yoga session would be held on the Ganga on Saturday evening, with 500 boats taking part on the eve of International Yoga Day.

Besides the state government, several organisations, including the RSS’s sports wing Kreeda Bharati, have been actively working to make the Yoga event successful. A source said dozens of organisations, including those connecting with Ayush, had been working together to make the event a landmark one.