Mamata Banerjee

New Delhi, Aug. 24: Mamata Banerjee lived up to her name Didi and surprised Delhi’s power corridors with rakhis today.

On Raksha Bandhan, the railway minister sent rakhis and sweets to “brothers” Manmohan Singh and Hamid Ansari, and also to “sisters” Pratibha Patil and Meira Kumar. Others who received rakhis included railway board members and journalists, both men and women.

The north Indian festival traditionally celebrates the bond between brother and sister, with sisters tying rakhis on brothers’ wrists.

Didi’s rakhi diplomacy was a first for Delhi, which is used to the exchange of sweets and gifts on Dussehra, Diwali and the New Year, but Calcutta has seen it before. Mamata has been known to walk into newspaper offices there and tie rakhis on all journalists present, gender no bar.

“Gender does not matter,” a close aide of Mamata said, before going on to cite Rabindranath Tagore.

Tagore, he recalled, had used the festival to spread the nationalist spirit among people from different ethnic backgrounds when the British tried to divide Bengal in 1905.

“Mamata has no political motive behind sending rakhis. She is a nationalist leader and has used the festival to strengthen the nationalist spirit,” he said.

While the Prime Minister, the President, the vice-president and the Speaker made it to Mamata’s rakhi list, Sonia Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee did not. But sources close to Mamata cautioned against reading any political meaning into it and pointed out that she was scheduled to meet the finance minister late in the evening.

“She might have decided to personally tie the rakhi on Pranabda’s wrist. She was unwell and could not go during the day,” the Mamata aide said. He also recalled how despite her blow-hot, blow-cold relationship with Pranab, she had sprung a surprise and cut a cake in Parliament to celebrate his birthday.

Delhi’s new Didi did not venture out on Rakshha Bandhan, staying closeted in her flat all day and sending greetings by SMS. Sources close to her said she was unwell, which is why she had stayed back in Delhi for the weekend.