Every time a noise came from the sky, the hundreds gathered outside CF Park eagerly looked up, only to see another plane passing by. Finally, the emcee announced that Didi had boarded from Haroa and would be landing soon.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee arrived for her first road rally in Salt Lake on May 25, making a grand entrance by helicopter— a rare sight in the township in recent years.
“The only time I saw a chopper land was when I was a child in Arambagh and oil drilling officers came,” said Gopinath Sarkar, a septuagenarian from BL Block. He and hundreds of others wanted a closer look, but most couldn’t get too close. They were pushed out to the street, and the park was surrounded by high concrete and tin walls. Trees blocked the view too.
“It’s standard procedure to move the public away,” said Shyamal Dey Sannamath, a retired marine engineer who had also come from BL Block. “I’ve seen numerous rescue operations at sea where, without life jackets, people could be pushed underwater by the helicopter’s thrust.”
Councillor Banibrata Banerjee recalled that another helipad had been prepared in FD Park in his ward. “That was in 2019 when Abhishek Banerjee was to land here but it wasn’t used ultimately,” he said.
The public works department had built that helipad and this. Helipads have also been built at the stadium in the past.
Sabyasachi Dutta, chairperson of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation and local councilor of BF Block, said it was a pride for the township to be hosting the chief minister’s rally and to witness her touchdown in a chopper. Trinamul Congress had suffered a vote deficit of almost 18,916 from Bidhannagar in the 2019 Lok Sabha general elections and 2,258 in Ward 31, which Dutta represents, but he said the venue was chosen only due to logistics. “This park is ideal as it’s a big space without highrises around it,” he said.
Walk, no talk
The CM alighted from the chopper and started the walk without any speech or formalities. The route was from the BF Park gate, that faces CF Block, to Baisakhi Island and then straight to PNB Island.
It was quite a sight to see MLA and minister Sujit Bose and Dutta, known not to see eye to eye, walk next to each other, along with mayor Krishna Chakraborty, Tapash Chatterjee and of course, local candidate Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.
Mamata walked energetically, waving and joining her palms intermittently, while some others clearly struggled to keep pace. Once in a while she wiped her face with her sari anchal without betraying any sign of fatigue in walking the 3.5km stretch.
Right behind the dignitaries were rows of dancers. “We were asked to perform dandiya and Rajasthani dances,” said choreographer Sourav Chanda. Mamata herself performed some dandiya with them later, and also played with some teenage footballers. “We learn football at HB Block,” Ruma Halder of the girls’ team said later. “We got sparkling new white and blue uniforms for this rally.”
A huge procession trailed the CM. The streets were adorned with tricoloured balloons, and flags hung like shamianas. Some supporters ran alongside on the other flank, while others held ropes on either side and several meters ahead of the CM for security purposes. Some residents came out to balconies to wave at and click the CM, with a few even presenting her with bouquets and uttarayas.
Quite conspicuous was a tall man in a florescent orange Adidas jersey. “I wore this as it’s the most comfortable outfit I have for this heat but I hope I don’t get beaten up by TMC supporters for the BJP colour!” joked the stock market expert who has come from Mumbai to cast his vote. “My Salt Lake house is nearby but besides me, I don’t see many local residents here. All are from the party cadre.”
As the procession crossed AD Block, the staff from Retro 22 lounge rushed out to shoot the scene. Souvik Rajbanshi uploaded the videos immediately but Sanjay Rajat said he has seen bigger road shows by the CM in Tollygunge, where he lives. “The paraphernalia here is great but in Tollygunge there was way more participation from the locals. But then that was a slum. The culture here is more sophisticated so people are unlikely to hit the streets,” said Sanjay.
There was also Bishop Peter Alok Mukherjee of Bretheren Church walking right in front in white robes. “For India to advance, religions need to be united,” he said. Buddhist monks had also come from Siddharth United Social Welfare Mission in Chinar Park. “We want people to think before they vote,” said Praggapriya Bhikkhu of the Mission.
In BA Block, staff from Nail’o’Drama rushed out to watch too. But after the crowd left, proprietor Simran Anand noted: “Workers had swept and cleaned these streets yesterday but now water pouches are strewn around. A client and I myself have been stuck without app cabs for a long time as the streets have all been blocked,” she added.
The procession concluded right outside Salt Lake, where Mamata interacted with participants. In all the revelry one almost didn’t notice the helicopter fly out of BF Park.
But that evening, the helipad was the toast of the park. Two children were seen sitting, not just inside the helipad but, right where the huge “H” was written for the chopper to notice and land.
“The helicopter was awesome! It was blue in colour and had a stylish fan in the tail,” said Suman Gosait of Class V. “It created a dust storm while landing,” added Milan Mondal of Class VII. “We even saw the bomb squad and canine squad come for inspection yesterday. We’re too young to vote but it’s been a lovely weekend to witness so much.”