Residents of Cooch Behar on Sunday saw the rerun of posters in at least seven locations of the district, this time with messages of appreciation for chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

On Sunday evening, Mamata reached here. She will attend several government events across north Bengal over the next three days, before moving to Murshidabad.

On Thursday, Cooch Behar saw posters of supposedly Trinamul supporters displayed in over 10 locations, sending messages to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and his party leaders to hold the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in other states.

Since Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people in groups, especially women, stood with posters in Pundibari, Rajarhat, Khagrabari, Chakchaka, Baburhat, Rail Ghumtee, Station More and near the Circuit House, carrying posters thanking the chief minister.

“Dhonnyobad Didi, ami Lakshmir Bhandar pachhi (Thanks Didi, I’m getting the benefits of Lakshmir Bhandar)” and “Dhonnoybad Didi, ami Swasthya Sathi pachchi (Thanks Didi, I’m getting the benefits of Swasthya Sathi)” were written on the posters.

“It was a clear missive to the chief minister that people in Cooch Behar are thankful to her as she has extended benefits to millions under these schemes. The social welfare schemes which she has introduced for residents of Bengal are unique. People have spontaneously thanked her,” said Rabindranath Ghosh, a state vice-president of Trinamul in Cooch Behar.

On Thursday, as Rahul had entered Bengal from Assam via Boxirhat, around 40km from here, he too saw certain posters that spoke of grievances against state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, suggested that Rahul should move to other states with his Nyay Yatra and even unequivocally held that “Didi is enough for Bengal” to take on the BJP.

Much like Thursday, those who carried the posters didn’t carry political flags.

A political observer pointed out that on Sunday Trinamul supporters tried to drive home the point that people were overwhelmed with the chief minister’s social schemes and would spontaneously support her and not the Congress.

“It is interesting to see how the posters changed. On Thursday, the messages of the posters only substantiated what Mamata Banerjee had said about the Congress before Rahul Gandhi had entered Bengal. On Sunday, the posters were different and hinted that the Trinamul leadership will continue to prove to the Congress, its ally in the INDIA bloc, that they are ready to take on the BJP alone in Bengal, even if Congress doesn’t stand by them,” said a political observer.