BJP plans rath yatra in Bengal in Dec, Jan

KOLKATA: Three air-conditioned buses decorated as chariots and carrying Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from all over India, including chief ministers of 20 BJP-ruled states, will travel nearly 11,000 km, covering all 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal, for about a month-and-ahalf in December and January to kick off the party’s Lok Sabha election campaign in the state.

“All crowd-pullers of our party will attend the Rath Yatra. This will be a game-changer in Bengal. Party president Amit Shah will inaugurate it and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the concluding event. It will mark the beginning of the end of the Mamata Banerjee regime,” said Dilip Ghosh, BJP state president.

The route for the party’s biggest and most spectacular programme in the state was finalised on October 22.

One of BJP’s focus states, Bengal has 42 Lok Sabha seats, the most after Uttar Pradesh (80) and Maharashtra (48). Shah has set the target of winning 22 of the seats. Presently, it has two.

BJP’s steady growth in Bengal since the 2014 parliamentary elections, coinciding with the Left and the Congress’ steep decline, has made the party’s central leadership hopeful of rich dividends next year. Among star campaigners, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal tops the state unit’s priority list.

The first chariot will start from the Kali Temple in Birbhum district on December 5, the second from the Madan Mohan (Krishna) temple in Cooch Behar on December 7, and the third from the pilgrimage destination of Gangasagar in South 24 Parganas . “The first chariot will cover nearly 4,800 km and will travel for 43 days. The second and the third will cover 3,500 km and 2,500 km respectively,” BJP state unit general secretary Sayantan Basu said. The party’s national secretary Rahul Sinha said 60 public meetings will be held along the route. These will be addressed by national leaders, including chief ministers and union ministers. The chariots will converge on Kolkata, where Modi will address a gathering at the Brigade Parade Ground on January 23, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birthday.

Bengal’s ruling TMC , the Left and the Congress have all planned programmes to counter the BJP. TMC Lok Sabha MP and chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, Abhishek, took a dig at BJP, saying that “leaders of a party for the rich will predictably travel in AC buses”.

Food minister Jyotipriya Mullick even issued an indirect threat, saying “people will block the way of their chariot of hatred in many places”. Communist Party of India (Marxist) state unit secretary Suryakanta Mishra also said the party’s activists would block the way of the yatra if it triggers communal tension.

Psephologist Biswanath Chakraborty, a professor of political science at Rabindra Bharati University, thinks BJP should have branded the programme differently. “If they call it Rath Yatra, the main issues in Bengal – corruption and lack of democratic space – will be eclipsed by the emotions of Hindutva. They should have branded it as Parivartan Yatra (rally for change) or Ganatantra Yatra (rally for democracy),” Chakraborty said.

“The programme is designed to divert people’s attention from socio-economic issues. We have chalked out an elaborate plan in December and January to highlight the grave economic conditions under the BJP regime,” said CPI(M) MP Mohammed Salim.

“The people of Bengal have an aversion for such programmes,” said Congress state president Somen Mitra.