The BJP alleged on Thursday that Trinamool Congress (TMC) party workers vandalised a chariot being used for its Parivartan Yatra—a part of the party’s outreach programme in poll-bound West Bengal—in Cooch Behar late Wednesday evening. The TMC denied the allegation.
BJP president Nitin Nabin inaugurated the Parivartan Yatra on March 1 at Ras Mela Ground in Cooch Behar. However, the yatra will only be formally launched at a public meeting attended by Union minister Jitin Prasada in Sitalkuchi on Thursday. It was for this purpose that a chariot had been brought from Lucknow three days ago.
On Wednesday, the chariot was being transported from the BJP district office in Cooch Behar to Pundibari, where it was to be kept overnight, before being taken to Sitalkuchi. While local BJP workers were transporting the chariot to Pundibari, a group of TMC workers allegedly stopped it near Mahishbathan. Seven to eight men allegedly arrived in a Bolero and vandalised the chariot and assaulted the driver.
As news of the incident spread, the situation grew tense, with BJP leaders and workers reaching the spot and blocking the road at the Pundibari intersection, disrupting traffic. Local police soon reached the spot, and the chariot was brought back to the BJP district office. According to police sources, an investigation has been launched into the incident.
“The vandalism of the chariot was carried out under the leadership of TMC leader Sayandip Goswami. Tomorrow, we will take the chariot through the same route,” Cooch Behar MLA Sukumar Roy, former BJP district president, said.
BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying that under her “failed leadership”, West Bengal had descended into a “state of lawlessness where the words ‘criminal’ and ‘TMC’ have virtually become synonymous”.
“Last night, under the cover of darkness, Trinamool-backed miscreants vandalized a vehicle of the #PoribortonYatra in the Mahishbathan area of Cooch Behar-II block. This shameful act once again exposes the fear and desperation gripping Trinamool’s cadres ever since the BJP’s Poriborton Yatra began gaining momentum across West Bengal. No matter how many cowardly attacks @AITCofficial carries out in the darkness of night, the people of Bengal have already made up their minds—TMC’s political exit in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections is inevitable,” he said in a post on X.
However, TMC Cooch Behar district president Abhijit De Bhowmik dismissed the allegations. “Ahead of the Assembly elections, lakhs of people’s names have been removed from the voter list. To divert attention from that issue, the BJP is now staging this Rath Yatra drama. It will not benefit them in any way. These allegations are baseless. They are saying all this to stay in focus,” he said.
On Thursday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will be at Hingalganj, Basirhat, for the Parivartan Yatra. While Union minister Jitin Prasada will be at Sitalkuchi, former Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda will be at Asansol, and Minister of State for Women and Child Development Savitri Thakur will be at Karandighi, Uttar Dinajpur.