At least half-a-dozen Trinamul Congress leaders — visiting villages as Didir Doot (Didi’s emissary) under the Didir Suraksha Kawach (Didi’s talisman or armour of protection) programme — have faced angry protests from the masses already, by Day III of the mass outreach initiative, prompting jeers from the BJP.

But sources in the senior leadership of the ruling party said – some, on the condition of anonymity – that this was an expected, even desired part of the exercise, akin to Didi Ke Bolo in 2019, conceptualised by poll consultant Prashant Kishor for the party.

“This progamme was envisioned to ensure this happens. In Political Science, there is a rather basic concept of the safety valve theory, which has been around for centuries. Even the First Amendment to the US Constitution (adopted in 1791) embodies the theory…. We are looking to help the people let out the steam of their grievances, so that it is not vented in the polling booths,” said a senior Trinamul MP.

The safety valve theory philosophically justifies the utility of protest. The safety valve rationale suggests that if the people are free to make statements expressing their displeasure against those in power and their policies, they are usually deterred from resorting to drastic or violent means in order to draw attention to their cause.

The theory is being used by several seniors in Trinamul to play down the initial embarrassment of Trinamul state general-secretary Kunal Ghosh facing protests on Wednesday in Panskura (East Midnapore), forest minister Jyotipriya Mullick on Thursday in Chakda (Nadia), the party’s Birbhum MP Satabdi Roy on Friday in Hansan (Birbhum). Also on Friday, Trinamul youth wing leader Debangshu Bhattacharya was confronted by agitators in Dubrajpur (Birbhum), Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh faced similar music in Para (Purulia), and party state secretary Sayantika Banerjee experienced it in Junbedia (Bankura).

For instance, Birbhum MP Roy faced agitation in several villages in the Hansan Assembly area, where local people came and protested against alleged negligence in development work and how the actual beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana were deprived. She noted down all the allegations.

A controversy was triggered after Roy did not partake in a community lunch with party workers, and left the place after posing for photos in front of a plate of food. The actor-politician said later that she had had lunch at the home of another party worker, before the photo op.

However, the BJP tried using the Roy example to attack Trinamul.

“Didi’s emissaries are out for these photo ops, nothing else. Trinamul’s Birbhum MP posed before cameras with a plate full of food and got up to leave right after. She did not have a morsel of the food served to her. Trinamul leaders can stoop to any level to gain clamorous puffery,” said BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar.

“The people are not fools, they are no longer willing to be appeased by such programmes,” he added.