The Trinamul Congress will reach out to around 2.13 crore Lakshmir Bhandar beneficiaries in Bengal ahead of the Lok Sabha polls with an envelope that will carry chief minister Mamata Banerjee's message about her initiative to increase financial assistance for women under the scheme.

A source said the outreach would start on March 31 from Jalpaiguri where Trinamul leaders, especially women, would visit each household and hand over the envelopes to the beneficiaries of the scheme. The beneficiaries will also be given a poster of the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme and a booklet detailing the Narendra Modi government's alleged deprivation of Bengal. The booklet will also list welfare schemes run by the Mamata Banerjee government.

"In the first three days starting March 31, our leaders and workers will reach out to women in Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Darjeeling, respectively. The envelope is symbolic as we want to send a message to the women that the hike in the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme is a gift in the forthcoming Bengali New Year (April 15) from Mamata Banerjee," said a Trinamul leader.

Out of 7.59 crore electors in Bengal, 49.19 per cent are women. The BJP has decided to use the alleged atrocities on women in Sandeshkhali as the prime issue in the campaign for the general election to corner Trinamul. Rekha Patra, the face of women's resistance in Sandeshkhali, is the BJP's Basirhat candidate.

Trinamul thinks the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme will play a pivotal role in getting the votes of women, especially after the allowance has been increased to Rs 1,000 from Rs 500 a month for general category women and from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) beneficiaries. The beneficiaries will start getting the increased amounts in their bank accounts from April 1.

The blue-coloured envelope printed with a photograph of Mamata Banerjee standing with a group of women has messages in Bengali on both sides.

The two messages read: "Apnar jonno Nabobarsher upohar, Didi baralo Lakshmir Bhandar (It is a New Year's gift for you, Didi hikes Lakshmir Bhandar amount)", and "Panchso taka bere giye ekhon holo hazar, Tafasili ma-bonera pabe barosho ebar (Assistance of Rs 500 hiked to Rs 1,000 this time, the mothers and sisters belonging to SC and ST category will get Rs 1,200 now).

"The envelope is made of synthetic material and women can use them as a small purse," a source in Trinamul said.

Chandrima Bhattacharya, the president of the Trinamul Mahlia Congress, will launch the drive and women leaders in the districts have been advised to reach out to all Lakshmir Bhandar beneficiaries in the same style, before urging them to vote for Trinamul in the Lok Sabha polls.