Sharpening its campaign with the West Bengal assembly election drawing closer, the Bharatiya Janata Party – a principal challenger to the ruling Trinamool Congress – is all set to mobilise public support. BJP national president JP Nadda, who arrived in the city on Friday night will on Saturday launch the party’s ‘Rath Yatra’.

News agency PTI quoted sources as saying Nadda is scheduled to kick off the ‘Parivartan Yatra’ from Nabadwip in Nadia district, the birthplace of 15th century saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also likely to inaugurate two of the five proposed yatras later this month.

Nadda will first visit Malda in the morning to take part in a road show and two other programmes in the district, the source said. In the afternoon, he will launch the Rath Yatra’, also named as ‘Parivartan Yatra’ from Nabadwip.

Several senior BJP leaders are scheduled to arrive in West Bengal during the month-long campaign, set to start from Nadia on Saturday. The party intends to launch similar yatras from Coochbehar, Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas, Jhargram and Tarapith in Birbhum between February 6 and 11. The state government has asked the BJP to seek permission from local district administrations before embarking on the yatra.

Rath Yatra and Centre-state Tussle

According to a report in The Wire, back in 2019, just a month before the Lok Sabha election, BJP had planned a similar Rath Yatra in Bengal. The state government had then denied permission, saying that such a rally could invite law and order problems. The saffron party filed a petition at the Calcutta high court and a single-judge bench ruled in its favour. But later, a division bench of the high court set aside the earlier judgment by a single-judge bench.

BJP appealed to the Supreme Court, but the apex court upheld the division bench order. A Supreme Court bench led by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said, “Fear of violence by the state government was not unfounded.”

The report quoted veteran TMC MP Saugata Roy as saying that he was wary of attaching much importance to the BJP’s Rath Yatra. “They (BJP) always mixed religion with politics, this is nothing new. They are desperate as they know that they are going to be losing in the election. Let them do their communal politics, people of Bengal will never fall for it,” Roy said. But poll watchers feel that the rallies will give BJP what it wants – visibility, the report added.

State minister Bratya Basu was quoted as saying: “The Rath Yatra is essentially a religious carnival based out of the ideology of 15th century saint Chaitanya. But BJP doesn’t follow Chaitanya’s concept of inclusion and unity and practice the contrary. This is nothing but a politically motivated programme and their only aim is to polarise and divide Bengal.” In 1990, LK Advani had launched a Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya to stir up support for the demand of the construction of a Ram temple at the spot where the Babri Masjid stood.

BJP’s Rath Yatra Plan

While the first rath yatra will be launched on February 6 from Nabadwip and will culminate at Barrackpore, the next two will be launched on February 8 from Cooch Behar in north Bengal and Kakdwip in south Bengal. The last two will be launched on February 9 from Jhargram and Tarapith in south Bengal.

“Along with each rath yatra, multiple padyatras will be organised to bolster the campaign ahead of the assembly elections and boost the morale of the party workers and supporters. It will be a mega outreach programme,” a senior party leader was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Elections can be held in March-April this year and the poll dates can be announced any time in February, according to officials in the poll panel.