- By Radha Basnet
- Thu, 25 Jan 2024 07:46 AM (IST)
- Source:PTI
Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra Day 12 Updates: Amid political ripples within the INDIA bloc alliance, the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, is slated to enter West Bengal from Assam on Thursday. The Bengal leg of the Yatra will begin a day after Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee said that her party will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls independently in West Bengal.
Both Congress and TMC are an alliance of the INDIA bloc that formed to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the 2024 Parliamentary elections.
The Yatra, travelling from Assam, is scheduled to enter West Bengal through Bakshirhat in Cooch Behar district in the northern part of the state today. It will pass through the Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Uttar Dinajpur, and Darjeeling districts before arriving in Bihar on January 29 after taking a two-day break on January 26–27.
The Yatra will re-enter Bengal on January 31 via Malda, it will pass through Murshidabad, both Congress stronghold districts, before departing the state on February 1. Rahul Gandhi is visiting the state for the first time since the April–May 2021 legislative elections.
After entering the state on Thursday afternoon, Gandhi will lead a padayatra from Maa Bhawani Chowk in Cooch Behar town. The Yatra will continue at Gokshadanga before reaching Falakata in the Alipurduar district for an overnight halt.
The CPI (M) and left parties, allies of the Congress within the state and the INDIA bloc at the national level, are expected to join the march.
The surprise move from the TMC supremo came as a huge setback for the opposition INDIA bloc. The Grand Old Party was stunned by Mamata's move. "No one can imagine the existence of the opposition INDIA bloc without West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in Assam, as quoted by PTI.
(With Agencies Inputs)