Kolkata, February 17 With Assembly elections just two months away, the West Bengal BJP is preparing to launch its Paribartan Yatra, a statewide mobilization campaign aimed at consolidating anti-incumbency sentiment against the TMC and rebuilding the momentum it had generated before the 2021 polls, but failed to translate into power.
Addressing a press conference, state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya termed the initiative as the next phase of the party's political struggle against what he described as the declining relevance of the TMC government.
Drawing a line from the end of Left Front rule to the present, Bhattacharya argued that voters who once backed the TMC to end cadre-based politics now find themselves disappointed amid allegations of corruption and shrinking democratic space.
"After 34 years of Left rule, people wanted democracy and development. Fifteen years later, there is a growing demand to reassess what was actually delivered," he said, claiming that rural voters and marginalized communities were increasingly dissatisfied.
According to the BJP's roadmap, nine Paribartan Yatras will begin on March 1 and 2 from politically significant locations including Cooch Behar, Krishnanagar, Garbeta, Raydighi, Kulti, Islampur, Sandeshkhali, and Amta.
The programme will pause briefly during Dol Yatra before resuming on March 5, covering more than 5,000 km across all Assembly constituencies.
The campaign is designed as a rolling political exercise featuring tableaux, roadside meetings and local outreach events, culminating in a major rally at Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground later in March, which the party hopes will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Senior national leaders, including Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, and J P Nadda, are expected to participate in different phases, signalling the importance the party's central leadership is attaching to Bengal.
Even as internal discussions reportedly touched upon convoy-style campaign vehicles, state leaders stressed that the initiative should not be interpreted as a Rath Yatra, a format that has historically triggered legal and political controversy in Bengal.
Bhattacharya said the Paribartan Yatra was distinct from traditional Rath Yatras, even as the term inevitably evokes memories of earlier BJP mobilisations, particularly LK Advani's 1990 Rath Yatra, widely regarded as a turning point in national politics, and subsequent state-level journeys that helped the party expand its organisational footprint across India.
The timing of the campaign reflects a wider churn in Bengal's political landscape. The BJP believes that controversies surrounding corruption cases, rural grievances and migration issues have created fresh openings, while the TMC continues to rely on welfare schemes and grassroots networks to retain its dominance.
The BJP's narrative also seeks to counter the TMC's charge that its outreach among minorities and migrant workers is selective or politically motivated.
The TMC, however, has dismissed the yatra plans as election-time optics, arguing that the BJP remains overly dependent on central leaders rather than local faces.
The ruling party has also accused its rival of using campaign programmes to polarise voters, a charge the BJP rejects.
Parallel to the yatras, the BJP has been holding conventions involving doctors, teachers, lawyers and minority cell members, often featuring leaders from New Delhi.
Political observers see this as an attempt to energise cadres while signalling that Bengal remains a priority battleground for the national leadership.
The campaign comes amid ongoing discussions within party circles over candidate selection ahead of the Assembly polls, adding another layer of significance to the organisational push.
Bengal has a long history of high-voltage political marches, from Left-era mobilisations to the TMC's anti-land acquisition agitations.
The BJP's aggressive pre-2021 mobilisation significantly expanded its Assembly tally but failed to unseat Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who retained power by consolidating rural support and welfare beneficiaries.
With over 60 large meetings and hundreds of smaller gatherings planned, the BJP is betting that sustained visibility can rebuild momentum in a state where political narratives shift quickly and alliances remain fluid.
Whether the Paribartan Yatra becomes a vehicle of real political change or merely another high-decibel spectacle on Bengal's crowded electoral roads will ultimately be decided not in rallies but in the quiet arithmetic of the ballot box, a political analyst said.