BJP back to Rath Yatras to boost political prospects in West Bengal

In an attempt to boost the party’s electoral prospects in the upcoming Assembly polls in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has returned to its time tested strategy of organising Rath Yatras.

State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Tuesday (February 17, 2026) announced Parivartan Yatras across the State in the month of March. There will be nine yatras that will start from different parts of the State.

On March 1, the yatras will start from Cooch Behar Dakshin, Krishnanagar Dakshin, Garbeta, Raydighi and Kulti. The very next day, another set of yatras will start from Islampur, Sandeshkhali, Hassan and Amta.

“The yatra will culminate at the end of March with a massive rally at Brigade Parade Ground, addressed by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Preparations for the rally have already begun,” a press statement by the West Bengal BJP said.

Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said that there will be similar yatras before Assembly polls in every State.

According to the West Bengal unit of the BJP, these yatras will cover more than 5,000 km across every Assembly constituency and there will be 60 large public meetings and more than 300 small public gatherings. Several senior leaders of the party, including BJP president Nitin Naveen, former national president and Union Minister J.P. Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Nitin Gadkari and Dharmendra Pradhan, and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, are among the leaders who will participate in the yatras.

The BJP in West Bengal has emerged as the principal Opposition party after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and despite posing a tough competition to the Trinamool, lost the 2021 Assembly polls. The Trinamool Congress looks upbeat after increasing the cash entitlements of the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme and introducing a new cash incentive scheme for unemployed youth.