Chief minister Mamata Banerjee walked along a 3km-long stretch in Raiganj on Friday afternoon, meeting and greeting people in the town.

During the first leg of her poll campaign in north Bengal which she initiated on Thursday, this was her first road show in the region.

The decision to walk in the town, which was the turf of late Congress leader Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, is significant and hints that Mamata is putting all efforts to win the Lok Sabha seat in north Bengal where her party ended with a miserable performance in 2019.

“I was supposed to reach here tomorrow. But due to inclement weather conditions, I came today after addressing public meetings in Jalpaiguri and Tufanganj. As I could find some time, I thought of taking a walk in the town ,” said Mamata.

On Saturday, she will speak in two public meetings in North and South Dinajpur districts.

Accompanied by Krishna Kalyani, whom Trinamul has fielded in Raiganj Lok Sabha seat and Trinamul leaders and supporters, Mamata started the walk from Siliguri More at around 5pm.

En route, she waved and greeted people and also cuddled a girl whom she found off MG Road, a prominent thoroughfare of the town. The walk ended at Bidrohi More. From there, her motorcade left for a hotel where she will stay today.

According to Trinamul insiders, the walk is an attemptto prove that the party is working in a united manner inthe seat.

“There was discontentment among some party functionaries after the central leadership chose Krishna Kalyani. As he launched his campaign, it was found that some former civic councillors are not joining him in the campaign in the municipal wards. That is why, it seems, the party supremo decided to take a walk and substantiate that no inner differences persists within the party,” said a Trinamul functionary.

It may be mentioned that in the 2021 Assembly elections, Kalyani, a prominent face in the local business community, had won on BJP’s ticket from Raiganj seat. He however, soon defected to Trinamul.

He resigned from the MLA’s post only after Trinamul pitted him as the candidate for Lok Sabha seat.

In Bengal, Raiganj, like Darjeeling, is one of the Parliament seats in Bengal that Trinamul has never won. In 2019, Debasree Chaudhuri of BJP had won the seat. This time, Debasree is contesting from Mamata’s home turf, the Calcutta South Lok Sabha seat.

Political observers said in North Dinajpur district, BJP has taken the strategy to play the polarization card again as the district has around 50 percent minority population.

In 2019, the party had used the Daribhit issue – death of two youths in firing during a violence that had sparked over the recruitment of teachers in a school.

“This time, the saffron party has raked up the Daribhit issue again and is also highlighting the death of a youth due to police firing in Kaliaganj. Also, Congress has fielded a candidate from the minority community. That is why, Trinamul is putting additional impetus to consolidate its support,” said an observer.