TMC general secretary and party’s second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday led a 20-km padyatra to reach Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district as part of his Jan Sanjog Yatra. Abhishek began his march in Chandipur in the afternoon, and concluded at Nandigram bus stand. He will spend the night in Nandigram, before embarking on his statewide yatra. The yatra is part of the party’s Trinamooley Nabojowar (New Wave in Trinamool) campaign ahead of the panchayat elections in the state. “The outpour of love for Jan Sanjog Yatra from thousands of you every day has convinced me that a Jono Jowar (people’s wave) has taken over Bengal. People's growing support assures me that Trinamool Congress is set to outperform itself in the upcoming panchayat polls and beyond," he tweeted after reaching Nandigram. “I am certain that people across India have realised the damage that the BJP has caused in the socio-political sphere. Later this year, we have elections in five states. I am sure beyond doubt that the BJP will lose in all five states. The end of BJP's misrule has begun,” he added. The party said that on reaching Nandigram, Abhishek met a group of widows “who are facing issues with Aawas Yojana due to the BJP-led Centre blocking West Bengal’s funds”. “After interacting and addressing the pressing issues, he assured them of our full support. In our journey towards progress, no one will be left behind,” the party said. Abhishek’s foot march in Nandigram assumes significance given the place being central to the TMC’s politics for close to two decades. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s support to a land agitation movement against the then Left Front government in Nandigram and Singur, catapulted the party to power 15 years ago. However, she lost to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, who was once with the TMC, by a narrow margin in Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly elections. Meanwhile, TMC hit out at the Opposition and especially Suvendu Adhikari, accusing them of trying to “defame Abhishek Banerjee”. “As the ‘Nabo Jowar’ has turned into a ‘Jono Jowar’, the Opposition parties in Bengal — CPI(M), Congress, and BJP — are coming under immense pressure. Hence, these Opposition parties are relying on defaming Abhishek Banerjee in a bid to suppress his yatra,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said. Hitting out at Adhikari, for questioning the security arrangements made for the yatra, Ghosh said, "Since the Leader of Opposition is raising the question of expense, I must ask him the expense that the Central government is incurring by keeping CBI and ED officers camped in Bengal. Where is that money coming from? In case, people have forgotten, it was the BJP-led central government that used taxpayers’ money to purchase the Pegasus software from Israel for over 2 billion USD. Not just this, right after the purchase of the snooping software, the phones of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, and other leaders of our country were tapped by the BJP government." “The manner in which BJP leaders have got protection from the Centre, especially before the 2021 Bengal Assembly Elections, where did the money for that come from? And why was it required? I hope Suvendu answers these questions,” Ghosh added. Meanwhile, BJP claimed that TMC had brought supporters from across the state to increase the number of people in Thursday’s padyatra. “From several parts of West Bengal, TMC supporters came here to increase the number. We will organise a rally of Suvendu Adhikari within a few days. There you will see people of Nandigram will participate,” local BJP leader Pralay Saha said.
