BJP President Nitin Nabin Leads Save Democracy Padyatra in Kolkata After Bhagalpur March

BJP national president Nitin Nabin led the party’s “Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao” (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy) padyatra in Kolkata on 2 November, completing the second of two marches he led in a single day. The Kolkata march began at 3 pm from College Street and moved towards Dharmatala, with BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari and state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya marching alongside him.

Earlier in the day, Nabin had led the first march in Bhagalpur, Bihar, from Lajpat Park to Seva Jyoti Chowk between 11 am and 12:30 pm. After finishing in Bihar, he travelled to Kolkata for the second march, which was scheduled to conclude at Dharmatala at 5:30 pm. Party leaders had projected a turnout of more than 20,000 for the Kolkata march, and Kolkata Police diverted traffic around College Street, Central Avenue, Bowbazar and the approaches to Dharmatala, with barricades along the route.

The marches are part of the BJP’s nationwide campaign against what the party describes as misinformation, disinformation and organised anarchy being spread by the opposition. The immediate backdrop is the opposition INDIA bloc’s rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on 1 November and its “vote chori” allegations over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls — claims the BJP rejects and says mislead the public about the Election Commission’s voter-list exercise.

The same campaign saw Union Home Minister Amit Shah lead a parallel padyatra in Hyderabad on 2 November, and the party has said similar programmes will continue across the country. The campaign began on 22 October, with its first phase running until 5 November and a second phase scheduled from 11 to 30 November.

For the BJP, the twin marches by its national president on one day are a show of organisational reach — from Bihar to Bengal within hours — and a message that the party intends to contest the voter-roll debate on the streets as well as in Parliament. In Bengal, where Kolkata and Howrah municipal elections are approaching, the march also signals the party’s mobilisation ahead of the civic polls.