Garbeta (WB), March 1 Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Sunday that the BJP's "Poriborton Yatra" (Change March) will lead to the overthrow of the Mamata Banerjee regime in West Bengal and bring the "double-engine" BJP government to accelerate development in the state.
Before launching the "Poriborton Yatra" in the Paschim Medinipur district, he told reporters that the TMC allegedly wanted to change the demographics of West Bengal by turning it into "West Bangladesh."
"Every right-thinking citizen of the state now wants this Mamata Banerjee regime to go, for their own safety, existence, and the Poriborton Yatra will pave the way for that much-needed change," he said.
"The people of Bengal had expected there would be 'poriborton' (change) in 2011 after the 34-year misrule of the left. Although the left was removed, their conditions worsened," he told reporters at the start of the rally.
Pradhan claimed that after coming to power in Bengal, "the double-engine BJP government will accelerate the development process, which had been stalled during the reign of the TMC, ensure economic growth, employment, and safety for women."
Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari and other BJP leaders also participated in the yatra.
Nine "Poriborton yatras" are originating from Cooch Behar, Krishnanagar, Kulti, Garbeta, Raidighi, Islampur, Hasan, Sandeshkhali, and Amta, traversing every assembly constituency before culminating in a Brigade Parade Ground rally here, expected to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.
The 5,000-km outreach initiative is designed as both a mass-contact exercise and an organizational test aimed at converting booth-level groundwork into visible street mobilization, a party leader said.
During the "Poriborton Yatra," the BJP planned to directly reach out to 1-1.5 crore people across 294 assembly constituencies, he said.
The programme kicked off a day after the publication of the revised electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state.
In a jibe at Pradhan, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said, "Pradhan and many other BJP heavyweights had been regularly visiting Bengal ahead of the 2021 assembly polls. But everyone knows the outcome."
"This year too, their yatras and raths will fail to evoke any response among the electorate. The BJP has no connection with the masses and the people of Bengal," he said.
