The tea trade union of Mamata Banerjee’s party will begin an 11-day march across the Dooars next week to inform tea workers and their families about the state government's initiatives taken for them in contrast to the alleged apathy of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for Bengal's brew belt.

The march, named “Chai Shramik Ekta Yatra", will begin from Sankosh, a tea estate on the Bengal-Assam border in Alipurduar, on February 19. It will conclude at Ellenbarrie, another tea garden in Malbazar block of Jalpaiguri district, on February 29.

In recent years, this is the first time that Trinamul has planned such a march to draw support from the tea population.

“It will be organised under the banner of Trinamul Cha Bagan Shramik Union (TCBSU). Our leaders, along with tea workers, will move through different gardens, right from Sankosh in eastern Dooars to Ellenbarie in western Dooars,” said a senior functionary of Trinamul’s trade union front INTTUC.

The march, party insiders said, was planned to reach out to the tea population. In north Bengal, votes of tea workers and their families decide the results of three Lok Sabha seats — Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling.

In 2019, the BJP won both these seats as a considerable section of the tea population sided with the saffron party.

“We are focusing on Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri seats this time and will reach out to those who live in tea gardens. Our leaders will elaborate on the series of schemes and benefits which the state government has extended to them such as land rights, homes and cash aid to workers to build homes,” the INTTUC leader added.

On March 1, the TCBSU will organise a public meeting in Banarhat of Jalpaiguri with thousands of tea workers, said Trinamul leaders.

“Our trade union and the party want to tell the tea population that the BJP government at the Centre has been apathetic to them although they have elected BJP MPs. The BJP-led Centre made no move to help tea workers unlike the Trinamul-led state government,” said a Trinamul leader.

The decision to organise a meeting in Banarhat was significant as John Barla, the BJP Alipurduar MP and junior Union minister, is from Banarhat, said an observer. "It's Trinamul's show of strength on Barla's home turf," he said.