Congress’ Nyay Yatra in Bengal to concentrate on northern areas

The route of Congress’ much-hyped 'Nyay Yatra' in West Bengal will be mainly concentrated in the northern areas, sources from the state Congress Committee (WBPCC) said on Sunday.

As per the route map of the nationwide rally, it is supposed to enter West Bengal through Boxirhat in Tufanganj sub-division in Cooch Behar district. After that it will be moving mainly through the districts in north Bengal -- Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Alipurduar, North Dinajpur and Malda.

The minority-dominated Murshidabad is the only district in South Bengal which will be covered in the Nyay Yatra route.

Sources from WBPCC said that despite repeated requests from the state unit, two specific areas will not be covered in the yatra route, the first of which is the state capital Kolkata.

“WBPCC also made a special request for including the hills in Darjeeling district scattered over Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong. However, although the plains in Darjeeling district scattered over the Terai and Dooars region will be covered under the route, the hills have not found a place,” said a senior state Congress leader.

Political observers feel that more than Kolkata, the hills in Darjeeling are important for the state Congress considering that the country’s oldest national party is planning to field estranged Trinamool Congress leader Binay Tamang, who has recently joined Congress, as the Left Front- backed Congress candidate from the Lok Sabha constituency.

The nomination for Tamang is aimed at fuelling the “son of the hills" sentiment, a factor which has already become a teething factor for BJP in Darjeeling, which has gifted the saffron camp with three consecutive victories in 2009, 2015 and 2019. Recently, the BJP legislator from Bishnu Prasad Sharma has threatened to field an independent candidate if the party gets an “outsider” in 2024 again.