Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday launched the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Poriborton (Change) yatra from Mathurapur, South 24 Parganas, to intensify the party’s offensive against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.
Addressing a large public meeting, Shah said the yatra aimed to bring about “real change” in Bengal and not just change the prime minister. “Poriborton does not mean replacing one prime minister with another. The people of Bengal will bring change. Poriborton means liberating Bengal from corruption, unions and mismanagement,” he said, urging the crowd to raise their hands and pledge for change.
The home minister said that nine Poriborton yatras will be taken out across the state. Four yatras were launched on Sunday from Siliguri, Nabadwip, Medinipur and Purulia, while new yatras were launched on Monday from Malda, Hooghly, Bardaman, North 24 Parganas and Mathurapur. Shah said the state-level campaign aims to rally public opinion against what he described as the “failures” of the Trinamool government.
Rejecting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s criticism that the yatra was only aimed at capturing power, Shah said the BJP’s aim was to rid Bengal of corruption. “Tell me, brothers and sisters, should corruption be removed from Bengal or not?” he asked, eliciting loud reactions from the crowd. He also targeted alleged corruption in government recruitment, saying job irregularities had harmed the state’s youth.
Shah raised concerns about law and order and border security, asking whether people want safety for women, mothers and sisters, and effective policing. “Poriburton means protection of borders, security of women and the return of the rule of law,” he said, accusing the Trinamool Congress of presiding over the collapse of governance.
The Union Minister said Bengal suffered first under decades of Left rule and then under the Trinamool government. “There was a time when Bengal was known as a prosperous land. It was destroyed by the communists and pushed further into decline by Mamata Banerjee,” Shah said. Citing Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, he said the time had come to realize the dream of “Sonar Bengala” (Golden Bengal). “Can Mamata Banerjee and her family do this?” he asked.
Much of Shah’s speech focused on what he described as dynastic politics in the Trinamool Congress. He claimed that if the party returns to power, Bengal will be ruled by a “bhibu” (nephew), referring to Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. “This will not be Mamata Banerjee rule, this will be Baibo rule,” Shah said, asking the crowd if they would accept such an arrangement.
Referring to the 2021 Lok Sabha elections, Shah said the BJP got 38% vote share and won 77 seats, emerging as the main opposition with Congress and Left seats reduced to zero. “But did this lead to change? Did corruption stop? Did the unions end?” Only a BJP government with a full majority can dismantle what he called the corrupt Trinamool regime, he asked.
Shah also attacked the Trinamool government’s budget priorities, citing the allocations in the latest state budget. He claimed that only while $80 million were allocated to science and technology, $Rs 5,700 crore has been allocated for religious schools. “What is the agenda of the Trinamool Congress? Is it to provide employment opportunities to Bengali youth through science and technology, or expand madrasas?” he asked, describing this policy as “appeasement” which cannot advance development in Bengal.
Alleging that Bengal was suffering from mounting debts, Shah said that after 15 years of Trinamool rule, the state was burdened with heavy liabilities. “Every child born in Bengal today is born with debts,” he claimed, without giving official figures. He further claimed that corruption had become so entrenched that Bengal’s name was nationally associated with scams.
The Home Minister pointed out alleged irregularities in the appointment of teachers, cooperative institutions and urban local bodies, and asked the crowd who they believed was responsible for these scandals. “The people of Bengal know who did the corruption,” he said.
Shah also alleged that BJP workers had been targeted during the panchayat elections, claiming that many of them were attacked, killed or forced to flee their homes. “Do you think BJP workers will get scared? We have the strength to endure,” he said, promising action against those responsible if the BJP comes to power.
Concluding his speech, Shah called on voters to give the BJP “one more push” to unseat the Trinamool Congress. “After Rabindra Jayanti next year, Bengal will see a new government,” he said, stressing that the Poriburton Yatra marks the beginning of the BJP’s decisive campaign to come to power in the state.
Senior BJP leaders, including former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, were present at the rally.
