Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday brought back her famous “khela hobe” slogan after over a year as she tried to lift the morale of Trinamul Congress workers in Bankura and prod them into hitting the streets to take on the BJP in panchayat and Lok Sabha polls.

“Khela hobe? Khela hobe? Khela hobe…,” Mamata asked the audience while wrapping up her 20-minute address to over 40,000 party workers in Bankura’s Satighat. The audience responded with a resounding affirmative answer “Khela hobe (game on).

Many believe the “khela hobe (game on)” slogan — popularised by Mamata in the run up to the Assembly polls last year — had changed the mood of Trinamul workers and played a key role in ensuring a spirited fight from them against the BJP.

Several Bankura district Trinamul leaders said after Wednesday’s public rally that the slogan worked a magic and instilled a kind of confidence that had been missing among many of them following frequent electoral defeats in the hands of the BJP. “We think she thought of giving the slogan a fresh lease of life in Bankura where our party has been on the backfoot,” said a source.

Trinamul bagged only four out of 12 Assembly seats in the district in 2021.

The electoral defeats, she made it clear, didn’t mean the end as she prodded the workers into hitting the streets, building movements and also visiting each household in the district.

“If your Didi can visit you again after the party’s defeats in Bankura, why will you sit idle? Come out of home and visit people at their door to help them,” said Mamata.

“I was really upset with the performance in Bankura.… There were certainly some mistakes by our party workers or they bowed down before the BJP’s conspiracy. Maybe, the people believed in the BJP’s false campaign against us,” she added.

The chief minister tried to arm her foot soldiers with right issues and urged them to take the same to the people to build an opinion against the BJP. “They may make all their efforts.… But there is no-entry for them here and mark my words, the BJP will not come to power in 2024,” she summed up.