New Delhi: BJP to start Yatra for change in WB
New Delhi : In poll bound West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party will kick start its election campaign with a seven-day “Parivartan yatra” (call for change) beginning March 1, which will focus on the “key administrative lapses” of the ruling Trinamool Congress government in the state, said people aware of the details. The yatra will culminate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s big rally on March 14, said people aware of the details.
The BJP, which won 77 of the 294 seats in 2021, has planned an outreach which is pivoted on the slogan ‘Politano Dorkar, 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 economy to law and order, the state lags on every front,” said a party functionary.
The Yatra which will be led by union and state leaders, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Dharmendra Pradhan and state leaders such as Samik Bhattacharya, Suvendu Adhikari, Sukanta Majumdar will cover 1,000 kms a day.
“We have set a target of contact one million voters across 260 assembly constituencies across 38 districts. The Yatra will begin on March 1, there will be 260 big rallies and 250 smaller ones,” the functionary quoted above said.
The party is banking on the Yatra to create a buzz on the ground just as it did in other states. It is hopeful of recreating the impact a similar Yatra had in Uttar Pradesh in 2017.
“Yatras have been an integral part of the BJP’s political history. From the Rath Yatra during the Ramjanmabhoomi movement to the Ekta Yatra (that was organised against terrorism in 1991 from Kanyakumari to Kashmir) these mass mobilisation movements have been a key element of BJp’s strategy to build a narrative and elicit the support of people. In states where the party is in opposition we have a Yatra for change while in states where we fight to retain power, we have Jan Vishwas Yatras as was done in Madhya Pradesh,” the functionary said.
The Yatras and door-to-door campaign will highlight the non-implementation of central schemes such as the PM Kisan Samman in the state. “If lakhs of farmers in the neighbouring Assam have benefited from the scheme, why should farmers in Bengal be deprived of it… look at the state of law and order. The RG Kar (rape of a medical student) incident is not an isolated case, crime against women is a huge challenge in the state,” said the functionary.
The BJP campaign also lists issues such as “apparent politics” which it links to the proliferation of fake voters and illegal settlers in the state. “The issue of security and safety is also a huge concern in the state. Owing to vote bank politics, the TMC government had sidestepped issue of national security,” the functionary said.
Smriti covers an intersection of politics and governance. Having spent over a decade in journalism, she combines old fashioned leg work with modern story telling tools.
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