Kolkata: In what may come as a major embarrassment to the BJP, a party rally to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 23, which also marks Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary, at the Brigade Parade ground is all set to be postponed. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Saturday informed that the rally would be held on any date between January 29 and February 5.

“However, the date has not been fixed. We have given dates between January 29 and February 5 to the PM. We will start our preparations as and when he selects any of these dates,” the Kharagpur MLA said. Sources, however, indicated that state BJP is now eyeing to organise a rally in November this year in North Bengal where Mr Modi will address the crowd.

Significantly, BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha earlier declared that the rally would be held on January 23 when Mr Modi would address the workers at the Brigade Parade ground, where the party's Rathyatra would culminate after travelling across the state. His announcement came on July 21 within few hours to counter the Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee’s declaration of holding a grand rally on federal front at the Brigade on January 19. Sources revealed that the date of January 23 for Mr Modi's rally needed a change due to his preoccupation which the state BJP was not aware of. At a meeting at the National Library, the party has decided that three rathyatras bound for Kolkata would be taken out from Tarapeath in Birbhum on December 3, Coochbehar on December 5 and Gangasagar in South 24 Parganas on December 7 this year.

At least 20 Central ministers are expected to attend the rallies, sources added. After passing through all the constituencies over 45 days these rallies would end when Mr Modi will address a rally.