Ahead of the assembly polls in West Bengal, BJP has approached the TMC government to conduct a month-long rath yatra across the state.
In a letter to the Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay, the BJP state vice-president Pratap Banerjee stated that the rath yatra is expected to begin in February, intends to take out five rallies which shall crisscross the entire state.
"West Bengal State Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to carry out a peaceful political programme throughout West Bengal in the form of 'yatra' in the months of February and March 2021.
"There will be five segments -- covering all the assembly constituencies of West Bengal. Each yatra will include a 'rath' and will run simultaneously in different segments/territories of the state," the letter said.
The duration of each yatra would be of approximately 20 to 25 days, it stated.
Several top BJP leaders are scheduled to arrive in Bengal during the month-long campaign, set to take off from Nabadwip, Coochbehar, Kakdwip, Jhargram and Tarapith on February 6, 8 and 9.
According to sources, the state secretariat has received the letter.
"The broader purpose of this communication is to appraise you about the gamut of the program so that the administration may prepare the modalities of relevant support system for peaceful conduct of the programme.
"We want to seek an appointment with you..." Banerjee said in his letter to the chief secretary.
Earlier, in 2018, the BJP had planned similar rath yatras across the state, but the programme was called off at the very last moment as the state government refused to give permission.
With PTI Inputs
