Kolkata: An endearing part of Bengal’s political culture, graffiti wars and politicians have always shared a close connect in the state. For years, posters and caricatures coupled with catchy lines against rivals have been used to draw the attention of voters.
However, this time, the Trinamool Congress has adopted a unique campaign ahead of the key civic body elections this year, followed by the Assembly elections in 2021.
Brainchild of ace poll strategist Prashant Kishor, the new drive focuses solely on ruling camp supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Posters of a smiling Banerjee with a simple one-liner ‘Banglar Gorbo Mamata’ (Mamata is Bengal’s pride) have taken over the city and suburbs. Not just voters, the huge hoardings have also taken the opposition camp by surprise.
With several Trinamool leaders facing charges of poor governance and corruption, Kishor and his I-PAC team seem to be playing it safe and trying to cash in on the image and popularity of the firebrand leader who rose to power after overthrowing the 34-year-old Left Front government in 2011. The whole idea is make voters reconnect with Banerjee, popularly known as ‘Didi’ (elder sister), and vote for her. Experts feel the move might help distract voters from the misdeeds of Trinamool workers and their internal rifts.
Kapil Thakur, an analyst, said the ruling camp is trying to project an image (Banerjee’s) against the BJP’s strategy on not promoting any particular leader ahead of the crucial elections in the state. “The Trinamool has kept the posters simple. It has only Banerjee’s picture and just one line. This also helps cover up the misdeeds/rifts among Banerjee’s party leaders at the ground level. This is not a good signal, because the moment you pitch project something hard, it shows that you are trying to hide something,” he added.
Though senior Trinamool Congress functionaries are not yet willing to speak on the issue, BJP leaders feel the strategy would not help the ruling camp. BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha told News18, “This is going to fail because people see the party symbol when they vote and not the face. It shows the Trinamool Congress has realised that none of its leaders are capable of mobilising the masses towards them. This shows people have rejected them due to rampant corruption at all levels.”
When told that the Trinamool may be trying to get an edge over the BJP which has decided to contest the upcoming elections in the state without any face, Sinha said every single party worker is important for the BJP. “We believe in a party and not a particular face. No strategy of the Trinamool will work this time,” he said. The saffron party has made deep inroads in the state over the last few years and is way ahead of the Left Front and Congress in voter share.
The BJP has already started campaigning vigorously for the civic body elections despite the state government’s advisory against large public gatherings in face of the coronavirus outbreak. The chief minister has also instructed officers to work on precautionary measures that people of Bengal need to adopt to keep themselves safe, while shutting down schools and colleges for the next few days.
However, the BJP is in no mood to give in to fears of the COVID-19 pandemic and has even intensified its door-to-door campaign. More than 100 BJP leaders are engaged in meeting with people of all the 144 wards under the Kolkata Municipal areas. When asked about the risks involved in such activities, Sinha said, “We are taking precautionary measures and avoiding contacts with the general public. We are aware that the situation is not appropriate, but that does not mean we will cancel all our party-related work. There are some risks, but to save Bengal from the TMC, we are ready to take that risk.”
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