KOLKATA, INDIA JANUARY 2: L-R Trinamool Congress TMC chairperson and CM Mamata Banerjee during launch of two new campaign logo Didir Suraksha Kawach and Didir Doot at Nazrul Mancha on January 2, 2023 in Kolkata, India. With an eye on West Bengal panchayat polls due this year, the ruling Trinamool Congress on Monday launched a new campaign Didir Suraksha Kavach to reach out to the people. Photo by Samir Jana/Hindustan Times West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Launches Two New Campaign Logo Didir Suraksha Kawach And Didir Doot PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxIND
I have seldom seen as many party leaders’ vehicles, most of them SUVs with those tricolour VIP badges neatly displayed inside their windshields. Therefore, the telltale badges with the grass and flowers logo of the ruling party are more important than the thousands of blue beacons bearing vehicles of menial bureaucrats, secretaries of departments etc.
Again, the number of vehicles that day was mind-boggling and bore varied nameplates like Village- Pradhan, Panchayat member, Member-Zilla Parishad etc. They were from many districts of West Bengal and had converged at Nazrul Manch, an auditorium not far from my place. The CM of West Bengal would be preparing her team for the ‘Battle Royale,’ the Panchayat elections due in a couple of months.
I saw all who mattered raising their hands with a hand fan kind of placard that signified that the carriers were Didi’s ambassadors. The placard, called ‘Suraksha Kavach,’ will be carried by all the leaders to the villages, like the ambassadors between kingdoms carry their peace flags. The party leaders were directed to go to every village and hear out every difficulty and offer solutions. Her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, an M.P. and the youth face of the party, had already begun his action by removing a few corrupt Panchayat leaders and even getting them arrested. They had misappropriated the housing scheme monies meant for the homeless poor.
If Abhishek has cleaned the tip of the iceberg, the extent of the misdemeanours at the village level is much larger, considering the raids by central agencies like the E.D., unearthing lofty hills of currency notes at the leaders’ homes. The attempt to pooh-pooh the corruption charges and to brave visits of party leaders to the villages may backfire, with the placard holders gheraoed and forced to hear the villagers’ narratives of corruption.
The opposition is readying for an all-out attack. The older but marginalized opposition parties like the CPI(M) and the Congress are joining hands. They had lost all their significance and could do anything to remain afloat. They have two adversaries to contend with, the Trinamool and the BJP. It is difficult to say who could be a greater threat to their survival.
In the last assembly polls, the cadres of the two parties, the CPI(M) and the Congress, had, in many constituencies, quietly lent their support to the BJP. It will not be surprising if a similar street policy of cadre-level understanding to defeat Trinamool, the most formidable and unpalatable of all, is quietly green-flagged by the left and Congress. The CPI(M) considers the BJP weak at the State level and could wither soon. But the TMC is a different party with a stronger grassroots following; therefore, they need to defeat the Trinamool wherever possible.
But can they? Didi has much clout and charisma, which the rural folks, particularly the women, trust. The BJP, CPI(M) and Congress may need someone to match Mamata in her bastion and may have none.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
