In a first in 12 years, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday hit the campaign trail for the coming panchayat elections in the state from Cooch Behar. This is the first time in over a decade that the CM is campaigning for the panchayat elections.

While the ruling Trinamool Congress sees nothing unusual with the CM campaigning for the coming elections, the Opposition Congress and the BJP appeared to be speaking in one voice on the development.

Also Read: West Bengal panchayat polls: Central forces start arriving as violence continues to rage

Taking a dig at the Chief Minister, West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary said that Mamata entering the campaign fray hints at an admission of weakness within the TMC ahead of polls.

“Mamata Banerjee’s campaigning for the panchayat elections after 12 years shows the weakness of the TMC party. She has realised that if she will not come into the ground then what will happen to her party (sic),” he said.

Also Read: West Bengal Panchayat Elections 2023: Date, schedule, results – All you need to know

Interestingly, West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar appeared to echo the views of his Congress counterpart as he mocked the first active campaign by the TMC leader for the rural polls in the last 12 years.

“After 12 years, Mamata Banerjee is coming out for a panchayat election campaign. For BJP, this is a great achievement. After 12 years, Mamata is feeling that her opposition has grown really big and strong that she herself will have to campaign…,” he said.

Ridiculing the claims, TMC MP Saugata Roy said there was nothing unusual about Mamata campaigning for her party in the state.

“She is a committed party person. The party felt that Mamata Banerjee should address some meetings of the panchayat elections, so she started campaigning for the party. It has nothing to do with BJP’s strength in West Bengal,” he said.

During her rally in Cooch Behar, Mamata Banerjee said that the Opposition alliance that is taking shape for the Lok Sabha elections next year will demolish the BJP on the national level.

“BJP wants to sell the country. Their double engines will soon vanish. They will lose their first engine in the panchayat elections of the state and the second engine in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections…We are trying to do a “Maha Jota” (larger alliance) against BJP and it will be done soon,” she said.

The state has witnessed several incidents of violence ahead of the panchayat elections in the state, including clashes between alleged workers of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress. Central forces have been deployed in the state on the orders of the Calcutta High Court to ensure that the poll process is carried out peacefully.

The West Bengal Panchayat elections are scheduled to be held on July 8. The results will be declared on July 11. The elections are being seen as a litmus test for the popularity of the Mamata government as well as the Opposition in view of the general elections next year and the Assembly elections scheduled to be held in the state in 2025.