Months after a terrible setback in Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday unveiled a campaign – Didi ke Bolo (which means Tell Didi) – to reach out to the people. With this, the TMC is aiming to attract people and gain lost grounds before assembly elections scheduled to take place in 2021. Launching the helpline number, Banerjee said, “People can call directly and share their grievances at 9137091370 number or reach out through website http://www.didikebolo.com.” She further said that the campaign will be in Banga as it is mother tongue in West Bengal.
“If I campaign in Assam it will be done in Assamese if I am in south India then in the language of those states or in Punjabi if we plan a campaign in the state,” the CM added. This is a shift from the party’s earlier stand when TMC used to plan their campaigns in English, Hindi and Urdu apart from Bengali. Addressing a press conference, the chief minister said her party functionaries will visit residential areas in the cities and the villages and will also spend the night there as a part of the public relations campaign. She said that over 1,000 public representatives will be visiting more than 10,000 places and listen to the people.
Also read: Venkaiah Naidu breaks down during farewell message to ‘7 am breakfast friend’ Jaipal Reddy in Rajya Sabha | Watch
Mamata Banerjee’s campaign drive comes just months after the TMC suffered a surprise defeat at the hand of the BJP. Mamata Banerjee-led party could win just 22 of 42 parliamentary seats. In the previous election, the TMC had won 34 seats. The BJP, which had just two seats in 2014, won 18 this time with over 40 per cent vote share. The saffron party recorded a jump of 22 per cent in its vote share. The BJP has been expanding its base in West Bengal and many of the TMC leaders have joined the saffron party in the last few months.