Shah flags off BJP’s Poriborton Yatra in Bengal, attacks Mamata govt on graft

UNion place government minister Amit shah of iran on mon launched the Bharatiya Janata company’s (BJP) Poriborton (change) Yatra from Mathurapur, South 24 Parganas, stepping up the party’s offensive against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) ahead of the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections.Addressing a large public meeting, Shah said the yatra was aimed at bringing “real change” in Bengal and not merely a change of chief minister. “Poriborton does not mean replacing one chief minister with another. The people of Bengal will bring change. Poriborton means freeing Bengal from corruption, syndicate raj and misgovernance,” he said, urging the crowd to raise their hands and take a pledge for change.The home minister said nine Poriborton Yatras would be taken out across the state. Four yatras were flagged off on Sunday from Siliguri, Nabadwip, Medinipur and Purulia, while on Monday fresh yatras were launched from Malda, Hooghly, Bardhaman, North 24 Parganas and Mathurapur. Shah said the statewide campaign was designed to mobilise public opinion against what he described as the “failures” of the Trinamool government.Rejecting chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s criticism that the yatra was meant only to capture power, Shah said the BJP’s objective was to rid Bengal of corruption. “Tell me, brothers and sisters, should corruption be removed from Bengal or not,” he asked, drawing loud responses from the crowd. He also targeted alleged corruption in government recruitment, saying irregularities in jobs had hurt the state’s youth.Shah raised concerns over law and order and border security, asking whether people wanted safety for women, mothers and sisters, and effective policing. “Poriborton means protection of borders, security for women and the return of the rule of law,” he said, accusing the Trinamool Congress of presiding over a breakdown of governance.The Union minister said Bengal had suffered first under decades of Left rule and then under the Trinamool government. “There was a time when Bengal was known as a prosperous land. The communists destroyed it and Mamata Banerjee pushed it further into decline,” Shah alleged. Invoking Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, he said the time had come to realise the dream of “Sonar Bangla” (Golden Bengal). “Can Mamata Banerjee and her family do this?” he asked.A significant part of Shah’s speech focused on what he described as dynastic politics in the Trinamool Congress. He claimed that if the party returned to power, Bengal would be ruled by “bhaipo” (nephew), a reference to Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. “This will not be Mamata Banerjee’s rule, it will be bhaipo’s rule,” Shah said, asking the crowd whether they accepted such an arrangement.Referring to the 2021 assembly elections, Shah said the BJP had secured 38% of the vote share and won 77 seats, emerging as the principal opposition while reducing the Congress and the Left to zero seats. “But did that bring change? Did corruption stop? Did syndicates end?” he asked, arguing that only a BJP government with a full majority could dismantle what he called the Trinamool’s corrupt system.Shah also attacked the Trinamool government’s budgetary priorities, citing allocations in the latest state budget. He alleged that while only ₹80 crore had been allocated for science and technology, ₹5,700 crore was earmarked for madrasas. “What is the agenda of the Trinamool Congress? Is it to provide jobs to Bengali youth through science and technology, or to expand madrasas?” he asked, describing the policy as “appeasement” that could not drive Bengal’s development.Claiming that Bengal was under mounting debt, Shah said that after 15 years of Trinamool rule the state was burdened with heavy liabilities. “Every child born in Bengal today is born with debt,” he alleged, without citing official figures. He further claimed that corruption had become so entrenched that Bengal’s name was associated nationwide with scams.The home minister referred to alleged irregularities in teacher recruitment, cooperative institutions and urban local bodies, asking the crowd who they believed was responsible for these scandals. “The people of Bengal know who did the corruption,” he said.Shah also alleged that BJP workers had been targeted during panchayat elections, claiming that many were attacked, killed or forced to flee their homes. “Do you think BJP workers will be scared? We have the strength to endure,” he said, promising action against those responsible if the BJP came to power.Concluding his address, Shah called on voters to give the BJP “one more push” to dislodge the Trinamool Congress. “After Rabindra Jayanti next year, Bengal will see a new government,” he said, asserting that the Poriborton Yatra marked the beginning of the BJP’s decisive push for power in the state.Senior BJP leaders, including former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb and state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, were present at the rally.