West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday started an 800 km yatra in the state from Ganga Sagar in southernmost tip of the State. The Yatra comes at a time when Congress leader Bharat Jodo Yatra has covered several states in the country and reached Delhi.
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Mr. Chowdhury had announced that the Yatra in West Bengal will cover almost 800 km and will conclude in Darjeeling. During the day, the State Congress president said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had invited the Trinamool Congress leaders to be part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra but none of the leaders joined the yatra.
Mr. Chowdhury was critical of Trinamool Congress and raised the issue of corruption in the recruitment scam and alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of not engaging with the protesting job aspirants. “ Why cannot she engage with protesters who have been sitting in the open for months now,” he said. The recruitment scam has rocked the politics of the State for the past several months and several officials including former State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee are behind bars for their alleged involvement in the scam.
About 1,000 people joined the State Congress president when he marched for several kilometres in Ganga Sagar. Mr. Chowdhury admitted that the Congress organization in the State is not where it was in the past but the party is in the heart of the people. At present, Congress has two MPs from the State but has no representation in the State Assembly. Congress has entered into electoral understanding with Left parties since 2016 but it has not worked well for the party. The yatra is expected to arrive in Kolkata and reach state Congress headquarters Bidhan Bhawan on January 2.