Mamata Banerjee went on an outreach overdrive on Day 2 of her Nandigram campaign, conducting a march, filing her nomination, visiting places of worship, participating in programmes and issuing brief statements thanking the people for getting her to contest from the East Midnapore seat.
Before her plans were unexpectedly terminated by injuries she suffered in an accident which she attributed to a conspiracy, the Bengal chief minister spent Wednesday trying to woo the 2.53 lakh Nandigram electorate for her fight against former lieutenant Suvendu Adhikari, now the BJP’s candidate.
“Nandigram leaders requested the chief minister to visit temples in Nandigram 2 (block) before going back to Calcutta. That is why she had decided on Tuesday itself to extend her stay,” said a district party leader.
Even on Tuesday, she had paid several visits to places of worship, apparently trying to nullify the desperate attempts by her principal adversary, the saffron ecosystem, to polarise the elections along communal lines.
The chief minister interacts with people at a Durga temple in Nandigram 2 block Telegraph picture
“The chief minister has been picking many Hindu temples, along with one or two Muslim places of worship. She will not neglect the minorities, of course. But she also has to take a more in-your-face approach with regard to proving her Hindu credentials as well,” said a senior Trinamul Congress MP.
“None of this ought to be part of a democratic election in a so-called civilised nation in 2021. But, sadly, the rules of the game have been drastically changed over the past few years, and she cannot afford to ignore the harsh reality,” added the MP.
In the afternoon, accompanied by her party’s state president Subrata Bakshi and district leader Sheikh Sufian, the chief minister travelled by helicopter to Haldia around 1pm and made her way to the SDO office — by means of a one km march — where she was later joined by Rajya Sabha member Dola Sen, one of the people handling her campaign in Nandigram.
Her nomination was accepted by deputy magistrate Kishore Kumar Biswas, a returning officer for the April 1 polling in the constituency.
Speaking to journalists afterwards, Mamata said: “My proposers were Mahadeb (Bagh), Swadesh Das, Susama Das and Abdul Samad, who hail from families of martyrs (of 2007)…. My chief election agent is Sheikh Sufian.”
“Our election manifesto will be released tomorrow, on Maha Shivratri, after I go to Calcutta,” she said, hours before the injuries forced her to return in the evening, for urgent medical attention.
After the nomination-filing, Mamata once again underscored how easy it would have been for her to contest from her Bhowanipore instead, but she had decided to contest from one of the two “holy movement sites” of Singur and Nandigram this time. She said she had zeroed in on Nandigram on the basis of the people’s “overwhelming response” when she had popped the question at a rally here in January.
After the nomination process, the Mamata contingent travelled back by helicopter to Nandigram 2 and visited temples by road.
Her stops included Shibrampur’s Kalimandir, where the chief minister spent eight minutes, the Chalmari temple, a Durga temple, a Shivalay temple and finally, the Giribazaar temple at Ranichowk, where a crowd of over 2,000 supporters awaited her.
Speaking to the crowd, Mamata said: “Our gathering here is proof of our unity.... The world will remember us for this.”
Lashing out at Adhikari, she added: “I have built all of Nandigram, starting from its bus stops, but somebody else takes credit for it.”
“It doesn’t matter to me as I know the real truth.... I want no divisions in Nandigram from here on out.… It (winning) will be a game for us,” said the Trinamul chief.
