Trinamul leader Mamata Banerjee here on Saturday indicated that her party will keep on flagging rising LPG cylinder prices and affirmed she would hit the streets in Siliguri on Sunday to protest the hike.
On Sunday, Mamata is scheduled to walk a 3.5km rally from Darjeeling More of the city to Venus More (Hashmi Chowk), her first public programme after her name was announced as Trinamul’s candidate in the Nandigram Assembly seat against the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari.
“On one hand, rice is available for free (by the state government through the PDS) while on the other hand, LPG prices are increasing steadily and going beyond the reach of people. This cannot simply go on. Tomorrow (Sunday), we will carry cylinders at the rally in protest,” Mamata told journalists at the Bagdogra airport after her arrival.
Earlier this week, women Trinamul leaders of the state had announced the event had been planned on the same day as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrival in Calcutta.
Trinamul, party insiders said, is keen to tap women voters who form around 50 per cent of Bengal’s electorate.
“LPG price hike is an issue any household can easily relate to. On Sunday, thousands of women, including leaders and elected representatives of our party, will join the party supremo (Mamata) in the rally. We expect she will address the gathering and it is significant that it will be her first public speech after her name was announced as our party’s Nandigram candidate,” said a Trinamul leader.
The event planned within 48 hours of Trinamul announcing the names of its candidates of 291 seats — barring three of the hills — can also help the party address the discontentment brewing among some party leaders and workers over the selection of candidates. To cite an instance, on Friday, some Trinamul leaders and workers had expressed disappointment over the party’s decision to field Omprakash Mishra from Siliguri instead of a “son of the soil”.
As Mamata landed here on Saturday afternoon, she was accompanied by party MPs Nusrat Jahan, Mimi Chakraborty and others.
Mishra travelled with her in the same flight.
Mishra told the media about his north Bengal roots and that he had born in Malbazar, subdivisional headquarters in Jalpaiguri district in western Dooars, and about his father — a prominent face in the trade union movement.
“I am not new to the region,” Mishra said. “I have studied in North Bengal University and was actively associated with student politics. We will all work together to ensure Trinamul’s victory here. The BJP might have won some Lok Sabha seats here in 2019 but their support base has steadily eroded since.”
Mishra’s remarks show that he intends to drive home the point that he is not an “outsider”, said political observers.