The saffron party is making all efforts to drive ahead its Hindutva image in the run-up to the West Bengal elections 2021. It has planned a series of Rath Yatras, also euphemistically named as Parivartan rally in this regard.

Today, the Calcutta High Court is likely to hear a plea against BJP’s Parivartan Yatra. The PIL challenges the Rath Yatra citing Covid-19 pandemic and law & order situation in the state of West Bengal. The saffron party, however, remains firm on its campaign and party chief JP Nadda is scheduled to flag off two Rath Yathras today.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

Reports reveal that other influential personalities like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister Smriti Irani, and more will also show their presence in the grand Rath Yatra. JP Nadda has earlier flagged off a Rath Yatra from Nabadwip in the state.

Route changed for Rath yatra in Murshidabad

On Monday, BJP had to take an alternative route for its ‘rath yatra’ which it has called the ‘Parivartan Yatra’ in West Bengal’s Murshidabad after the police stopped its rath or chariot from venturing into some of the district’s “sensitive pockets”, a senior police officer said.

Murshidabad is one of the three districts in Bengal where Bengali Muslims are a majority of the population. The other two are Malda and North Dinajpur.

District BJP leader Gourishankar Ghosh, however, claimed that the party had intimated the administration about the route being taken for the yatra well in advance and no objection was raised back then.

The ‘Parivartan Yatra’ on a rath was flagged off by BJP national president J.P. Nadda from Nabadwip in Nadia district on February 6, as part of the saffron party’s outreach programme ahead of the assembly polls. It travelled through Nakasipara before entering Murshidabad on February 7.

Also See: West Bengal 2021: Battleground for BJP and TMC

Members of the party, decked in saffron attire, were interacting with common people, and distributing pamphlets highlighting central government schemes and development work, as part of the yatra.

Haldia rally-Modi plays Ram card

In his speech at a rally in the industrial town of Haldia in East Midnapore, PM criticized Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC Government. PM Modi stated that ‘in the first year of the Mamata government, it became clear that what Bengal had got was not parivartan but the revival of Left and that too with interest’. Making a firm statement he further added that ‘the people of Bengal are watching and very soon, the state will show the Ram card to TMC’.