Mamata Banerjee began her three-day north Bengal tour on Monday with the twin objectives of thanking the people of Siliguri for voting the Trinamul Congress in the polls to the Siliguri Municipal Corporation and launching her mission to woo the Rajbanshi community, whose votes matter in at least 27 Assembly segments out of the 54 in the region.

“I want to say many many thanks to the people of Siliguri,” said Mamata, after garlanding a statue of Rajbanshi leader and social reformer Panchanan Barma on occasion of his birth anniversary, savouring the Trinamul sweep in 37 out of 47 seats in the city.

A host of promises — ranging from better traffic management, international airport status for Bagdogra, full-fledged airports in Malda, Cooch

Behar and Balurghat and overall development of the region — followed as the Bengal chief minister said she would do her best to give a better life to the people of north Bengal.

The long list of deliverables that she announced was not only a return gift for making Trinamul victorious in Siliguri, a traditional Left bastion that turned saffron in recent years, but was also aimed at ensuring a shift in the voting pattern of the Rajbanshi community, who play a decisive role in electoral outcomes in around half the seats in the region.

For Mamata, north Bengal has become the real battle ground as the Trinamul got 23 seats, seven less than the BJP in the region despite sweeping the Assembly polls across the state.

A source close to the chief minister said that the trip is politically very significant for Mamata as it may change the electoral dynamics in the region.

“The most significant part of the visit is her meeting with Ananta Roy, undoubtedly the tallest Rajbanshi leader, on Wednesday at a programme that he is organising to observe the 512th birth anniversary of Chila Roy, a legendary warrior, who is worshipped by the community,” said the source.

Ananta Roy, who is also called Maharaj by his followers, has recently returned to Cooch Behar after living in exile in neighbouring Assam for over five years under the patronage of the BJP, amid murmurs that his relationship with the saffron camp has taken a beating recently and he is keen to start a relationship with the Trinamul.

That is why Mamata, who has been trying to reach out to Ananta, accepted the invite for the programme on Wednesday, said a source.

“The BJP has been actively wooing the Rajbanshis and that explains their stellar performance in North Bengal... Union home minister Amit Shah had gone to Assam to meet Ananta Roy before the Assembly polls. Recently, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma broached the issue of talks with Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), a banned Rajbanshi outfit, as part of an attempt to bring them back to the mainstream. The Bengal government sensed that it was another ploy to woo the Rajbanshis and create problems in north Bengal,” explained a source.

Though Mamata had told her close circles that she was aware of the saffron shenanigans using the Rajbanshis, she was not sure about how to counter the maneuvers.

“Ananta’s invite has given her an option to reach out to the Rajbasnhis as the BJP has not delivered on the promises like separate statehood, Narayani Sena in Indian Army that Shah had apparently made to him before the Bengal Assembly polls... So, Didi can play on their failures and offer something from her side, which would tilt the balance in her favour,” said a source.

While it is true that the next assembly polls are more than four years away, Mamata — if she manages to win over Ananta — can produce quick results as out of 19 civic bodies that would go for polls on February 27 in north Bengal, around eight are Rajbanshi dominated.

“The BJP was leading in 15 of these civic bodies in the Assembly polls... Now, if Trinamul manages to wrest these in the civic polls, it would indeed be a game changer in North Bengal,” said an analyst.