The Bengal unit of the Congress has drawn up an 800km route for the state leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra that will commence on December 28, the foundation day of the party.

Pradip Bhattacharya, the party MP heading the committee set up to organise the Yatra in Bengal, told The Telegraph that the march will start from Kapil Muni Ashram in Gangasagar and end at Kalimpong.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi started on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and will cover a distance of 3,570km over 150 days to end in Kashmir. The Yatra is currently crossing Madhya Pradesh.

Sources said initially, the party had no plan to hold similar Yatras in smaller forms in the states not covered by Gandhi’s national march. However, the success of the rally in the southern states encouraged the Congress to decide to take out such smaller Yatras, sources said. However, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh had said that state-specific Yatras were always a part of the party’s plan.

The AICC tasked Bengal Congress leaders with organising the Bengal chapter of the Yatra.

“This yatra is a part of our party’s plan. Many from Bengal have joined the national yatra to strengthen Rahul Gandhi’s call. Though the national rally will not cross Bengal, we have decided to hold a similar rally in Bengal,” state Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury told The Telegraph.

The regional Yatra will start from the South 24-Parganas, march through North 24-Parganas, Calcutta, the twin Midnapores, Nadia, Murshidabad, Malda, the twin Dinajpurs and conclude at Kalimpong. It will tentatively take 55 days to finish the Yatra. Chowdhury will flag off the yatra on December 28 and walk with it while it crosses his home district Murshidabad, but won’t be available for the entire length.

A section of the party is bullish about the success of the Yatra. They are of the opinion that India’s grand old party has seen some revival in minority-dominated districts which used to be its stronghold, but were wrested by the Trinamul in the 2021 Assembly polls. According to these sources, Trinamul’s alleged corruption and the arrest of its leaders and ministers have unsettled the minority populace.

“Though we failed to secure any seat in the 2021 Assembly polls we have seen that the crowd at our rallies is swelling. We expect great turnout in the Bengal chapter of the Yatra, especially in districts such as Murshidabad, Malda and North Dinajpur,” a source said. While Chowdhury himself represents Murshidabad, Malda is a party stronghold since the times of former union minister A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury.

Former Forward Bloc MLA Ali Imran Ramz aka Victor joined the Congress in early October. He is from North Dinajpur and is creating hope for the party in the district.

Yet, another section of the party is sceptical. The biggest red flag, leaders of this section believe, is the lack of a national face like Gandhi who can pull a crowd and encourage them to participate in the rally.