Chief minister Mamata Banerjee walked in a roadshow at Chalsa here to reach out to people of various communities on Sunday, the Bengali New Year and the State Day.

In the afternoon, Mamata reached Bagdogra from Calcutta and took a chopper
to Tilabari in Matiali block of Jalpaiguri.

She reached Mangalbari in Chalsa by car and then joined the roadshow with state
minister Aroop Biswas. Trinamul organised the event in which people from tribal communities, the Gorkhas, the Rajbanshis and the minorities took part.

Mamata walked, meeting and greeting people, cradling babies, beating traditional drums and even joining the dance troupes. After covering around one-and-a-half kilometres by foot, the chief minister went to her car and headed for the private resort in Chalsa where she would stay till Tuesday.

Chalsa is under the Nagrakata Assembly seat. Although it is in Jalpaiguri district, the Assembly segment falls under the Alipurduar Lok Sabha seat.

In north Bengal, this is the second roadshow which Mamata held during her Lok Sabha poll campaign this time. Earlier, she had similarly walked in Raiganj town.

“The chief minister is exploring all options to win peoples’ support as the BJP had performed well in north Bengal, especially in the Dooars belt, both in the general election of 2019 and the Bengal elections of 2021. In 2021, Trinamul could win only one seat (Malbazar) in the Dooars belt. The BJP bagged the remaining four seats,” said an observer.

Mamata, who launched her campaign in north Bengal on April 3 — she reached here on the night of the March 31 storm — has lined up 12 public meetings till April 16. Then, she heads for Assam where Trinamul has fielded candidates in four seats.

So far, she has spoken in nine meetings and will address three more during the next two days. On April 16, she will walk in a road show in Siliguri.

In all, she will hold three public meetings in Cooch Behar and Alipurduar and four meetings in Jalpaiguri.

“Along with the chief minister, her nephew and party leader Abhishek Banerjee has also held meetings and joined in roadshows in the north. Such an extensive campaign by the two top Trinamul leaders shows the party’s keenness to secure these three Lok Sabha seats that the BJP had won in 2019,” an observer said.

Mithun campaign

Actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty, who is now a BJP leader, on Sunday campaigned in Mainaguri to back Jayanta Roy, the BJP candidate from Jalpaiguri. Accompanied by BJP leaders and supporters, Mithun took a vehicle from Subhashnagar of Mainaguri and moved for 4km, all along requesting support for Roy. Hundreds thronged to catch a glimpse of the actor.

Trinamul scoffed at the event. “Mainaguri was hit by the storm on March 31, but the BJP didn’t stand by the victims. The chief minister rushed to the affected areas the same night. Now, the BJP is trying to use an actor’s popularity to draw votes. Such tactics will not work,” said a Trinamul functionary.