NEW DELHI: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Haldia in West Bengal on February 7, BJP president JP Nadda will roll out a rath yatra from Nabadwip, the birthplace of Vaishnavite saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu on February 6.The BJP has politically divided Bengal into five organisational zones – North Bengal, Rarh Banga (South Western Districts), Nabadwip, Medinipur and Kolkata, and each zone will have a rath that will touch every assembly constituency, people aware of the matter told ET.The party plans to intensify its political activity in the state in February, starting with PM Modi’s visit to Haldia to inaugurate the Dobhi-Durgapur natural gas pipeline built by GAIL, Bharat Petroleum’s LPG import terminal and a flyover in Ranichak, among other projects. Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan was in Haldia refinery on Sunday to review the progress of the pipeline.According to BJP MP from Balurghat, Sukanta Majumdar, who has been given the responsibility of looking after the BJP president’s programmes, the raths will promote awareness about BJP’s flagship campaign in the state, Aar Noi Annay (No more injustice) and will help in building the party’s strength . “We want people to come tell us what kind of Shonar Bangla they want, what is their vision of development,” Majumdar told ET.BJP leaders say the rath yatras will also help in increasing the visibility of the party in the state, particularly in remote villages. “We are planning the routes such that there will be at least one leader in every rath and maximum booths will be covered..People will be encouraged to come to the booth, listen to speeches, engage with the local leaders who will be incharge in respective areas,” a senior functionary of the party said on condition of anonymity.
These raths will cover all the 294 Assembly constituencies. Earlier the rath yatras were supposed to begin from North Bengal, but, now it has been decided that the programme will be launched from Nabadwip. The party is also designing the schedules of its top leaders who will visit West Bengal in the next two month to hold campaign rallies. “The idea is to have jan sabhas in each of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies,” the functionary said.To make inroads in West Bengal before the 2019 General Elections, the BJP had planned to launch a “save democracy” yatra in Cooch Behar in December 2018, but the plans had to be curtailed after the Trinamool Congress objected and the matter went to court. Recently, both in the Delhi and Bihar elections, the party had rolled out digital raths.Political analyst Bishwanath Chakraborty said that while the BJP has been making huge efforts to increase its presence and grab momentum, it should also attempt to use a lexicon that will appeal to voters of Bengal, and not the same one used in states such as UP.”The use of the word rath itself might send out a message of alienation to minority and left liberal voters, some of whose support the party needs to build its strength. A rath might be a very good idea in some parts of the state, but in parts adjoining Kolkata, Howrah and other semi urban areas, the party should think of something more suited to the ethos of Bengalis,” he said.
