The CPM will launch “Bangla Banchao Yatra (the Save Bengal March)", the largest political foot march organised by the Left in recent years, from Tufanganj in Cooch Behar on November 29.
The campaign is expected to continue for nearly three weeks, concluding on December 17 at Kamarhati in North 24-Parganas.
“Through this march, we aim to highlight the ongoing crises in the state, which include rampant drug abuse, unemployment, insecurity for women, the collapse of healthcare and education systems, and the rise of divisive politics fueled by the Trinamool-BJP conflict,” Minakshi Mukherjee, a central committee member of CPM, said in Cooch Behar on Friday.
Sources in the CPM claimed that more than 10,000 workers and supporters were expected to join the march at its starting point.
Ananta Roy, the CPM district secretary and a former state minister, said the march would also highlight some of the major issues affecting north Bengal.
“These include wildlife conservation and the crisis in tea gardens, the deteriorating condition of NBSTC, the challenges faced by educational institutions, and the plight of bidi workers,” he said.
For the past few months, Minakshi has been organising political programmes in Cooch Behar to revive the support base of the CPM and the Left as a whole.
“The march has been planned to strengthen the grassroots ahead of the elections. But the question remains whether the Left can truly recover the booth-level organisational strength lost over the past few elections,” said a political veteran in Cooch Behar.
CPM leaders said the march would cover a wide route, starting from Cooch Behar and passing through Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda, before proceeding to the districts in south Bengal. In each district, the party plans to highlight local issues and grievances.
Girindranath Barman, the Cooch Behar district chairman of Trinamool, said: “The march will yield no results. They should first regain the trust of the people and then talk about saving Bengal.”
