Mamata Banerjee on Monday launched her campaign in the Jungle Mahal region from her wheelchair, holding back-to-back rallies in Purulia as she strove to recover ground lost to the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.
In the summer of 2019, the BJP had won five of the six parliamentary seats in the region, which has high concentrations of tribal and OBC populations, and led from 30 of the 40 Assembly segments in the four western districts of Bankura, Purulia, West Midnapore and Jhargram.
The chief minister’s pitch for reclaiming Trinamul supremacy — the party had bagged 33 of the 40 seats in 2016 — was wrapped in a plea and a pledge.
The plea: “Please don’t turn away from Trinamul as you had done during the Lok Sabha polls, possibly owing to some misunderstanding. If the behaviour of someone from Trinamul hurt you, I apologise. I shall ensure rectification.”
The pledge: “People thought I would sit at home because of my injury and they would loot the votes in Bengal. But as long as my heart keeps beating, I shall fight the BJP’s conspiracy of capturing Bengal. I’m a street fighter.”
Mamata is set to convey similar messages at her meetings in Bankura and Jhargram on Tuesday and Wednesday. She might return to the region before the first phase of the polls, aware that a recovery in Jungle Mahal will be key to Trinamul retaining power.
Several Trinamul insiders told The Telegraph that the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha owed to a range of factors, from the post-Pulwama surge in “nationalist” sentiments to a grudge against the local Trinamul leadership.
No such pro-BJP “wave” is visible this time, and Trinamul has tried to address local problems at the ground level, a senior district Trinamul leader in Purulia said.
“If Didi’s messages hit home and we put up a collective fight, we can recover lost ground to an extent and seal a third term in office for her,” the source said.
The BJP lacks Trinamul’s organisational reach in most parts of Jungle Mahal, as evident from the comparable spread of their posters, festoons and wall graffiti. However, even Trinamul insiders admit that the BJP may have an ace in silent voters.
“We need to sway at least some of these people to our side, and only Didi can do that,” a Trinamul insider said.
Unlike Union home minister Amit Shah’s virtual meeting in Jhargram and the physical one in Bankura, Mamata’s rallies in Jhalda and Balarampur were well attended, with crowds arriving well in advance, braving the blazing sun.
Mamata flagged another chink in the BJP’s armour: the perceived inadequacy in the party’s bench strength, highlighted by the decision to field serving MPs in the Assembly polls. “Do they want to be MPs or MLAs? Let them decide that first,” Mamata said.
In her usual style, Mamata thanked the audience, especially the women, for turning up in numbers. She repeatedly apologised to them for being unable to stand up on the dais because of her injured foot.
At both meetings, she described multiple times how she had suffered the injury in Nandigram on Wednesday, before stressing that she was concerned less about her personal discomfort and more about the pain the BJP was inflicting on the common people.
That’s why she had hit the streets — to prevent the BJP wresting power in Bengal — she said.
“The Prime Minister is a liar; he is incompetent and cannot run the country. Look at the price of LPG cylinders; see how they (the central government) are selling (public sector) companies,” Mamata said.
She wondered what the “outsider BJP” could offer Bengal.
“They can only divide people but we can live with everyone,” she said, before flagging how she had personally raised five tribal girls and got them married and how a Bauri girl now lived with her at her Calcutta home.
She asked the crowd in Jhalda what the people of the state had got by giving the BJP 18 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
She then reeled off the list of schemes initiated by her government, particularly the pension schemes for the SC and ST communities and widows.
In several parts of Purulia and Bankura, the monthly pension scheme of Rs 1,000 has suddenly improved Trinamul’s poll prospects, party sources claimed.
“I shall ensure that we return to power and you keep getting free rations, that too at your doorstep,” Mamata said, a promise that may strike a chord in this poorest region of Bengal.
Being in power at the Centre, the BJP can roll out even bigger promises, such as Narendra Modi’s 2019 pre-poll declaration about trying to ensure ST status for Kurmis, who make up more than 36 per cent of Purulia’s voters.
That promise has stayed on paper but may now be resurrected when Modi arrives in the region to campaign.
Aware of the possibility, Mamata spoke not a word on the subject. Instead, plastered foot in full display, she kept repeating her plea for an end to “misunderstandings” and her pledge to fight the BJP till her last breath.
Nandigram visit
Mamata is likely to campaign in Nandigram on March 19 and 20, making her first visit to her constituency since her March 10 injury.
Trinamul sources said she had lined up an intensive campaign roster for both blocks in Nandigram.
“She might hold eight rallies and conduct several outreach events, such as visits to places of worship, all from her wheelchair,” a source said. “The security arrangements this time will, however, be different. Nothing will be left to chance.”