NEW DELHI: In poll-bound West Bengal, the BJP will begin its election campaign with a seven-day “parivartan yatra” (call for change) starting March 1, which will focus on the “major administrative lapses” of the ruling Trinamool Congress government in the state, people familiar with the details said. The yatra will culminate in a grand rally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 14, people familiar with the details said.
The BJP, which won 77 of the 294 seats in 2021, has planned outreach centered around the slogan “Politano Durkar, Chai BJP Sarkar”.
“The theme of the yatra and the campaign is the need for change… When we compare governance and administration in Bengal with other BJP-ruled states, the difference is stark. From economics to law and order, the state is lagging behind on all fronts,” a party official said.
The yatra, which will be led by union and state leaders, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Dharmendra Pradhan, and state leaders like Samik Bhattacharya, Suvendu Adhikari and Sukanta Majumdar, will cover a distance of 1,000 km daily.
“We have set a target of contacting 1 million voters across 260 assembly constituencies in 38 districts. The yatra will begin on March 1. There will be 260 large rallies and 250 smaller rallies,” the official quoted above said.
The party is banking on the yatra to create buzz on the ground just as it has done in other states. It is hoped to recreate the similar effect created by the yatra in Uttar Pradesh in 2017.
“The yatra has been an integral part of the BJP’s political history. From the Rath Yatra during the Ramjanmabhoomi movement to the Ekta Yatra (organized against terrorism in 1991 from Kanyakumari to Kashmir) these mass mobilization movements have been a key element of the BJP’s strategy to build a narrative and mobilize people’s support. In states where the party is in opposition, we have yatras for change while in states where we are fighting to retain it,” the functionary said, “We have power, we have Jan Vishwas yatras as It happened in Madhya Pradesh.
The Yatras and door-to-door campaign will highlight the non-implementation of central schemes like the Chief Minister’s Kisan Samman in the state. “If thousands of farmers in neighboring Assam have benefited from this scheme, why should farmers in Bengal be deprived of it… Look at the law and order situation. The RJ Kar (rape of a medical student) incident is not an isolated case. Crime against women is a major challenge in the state,” the functionary said.
The BJP campaign also lists issues such as “apparent politics” which it links to the spread of fake voters and illegal settlers in the state. “The issue of security and safety is also a major concern in the state. Because of the vote on the bank’s policies, the TMC government has avoided the issue of national security,” the official said.
