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Jhilimili (Bankura), March 20: The Trinamul Congress today pulled out all stops to ensure a high turnout at Mamata Banerjee’s meeting in Bankura’s Jhilimili, a day after a rally the chief minister addressed in West Midnapore drew lukewarm response.
Today, Trinamul supporters in buses, four-wheelers and mini-trucks started arriving at the Routora Karapara ground in Jhilimili since morning. Senior Trinamul leaders from Bankura such as minister Shyamapada Mukherjee and district chairman Arup Chakraborty monitored the arrangements.
When Mamata’s convoy arrived from Mukutmanipur at 1.55pm, the turnout was around 7,000. By the time she ended her speech, the crowd had swelled to around 10,000.
Around 200 people were present when the chief minister arrived at the meeting venue in West Midnapore’s Binpur yesterday.
The chief minister iterated that yesterday’s turnout was low because the meeting was brought forward. “Yesterday, I arrived two hours early for the meeting. It was scheduled for 2pm and I reached around noon and the people came late. A section of the media started saying that the people of Jungle Mahal have rejected us. The people of Jungle Mahal were with the government, are with the government and will remain with the government,” Mamata said.
Trinamul leaders said Tamluk MP Subhendu Adhikari was involved in the exercise to bring people to today’s meeting.
“Nobody asked for his help in Binpur. But this time, he was asked to mobilise the youth wing in Bankura,” a Trinamul leader said.
“Leaders who were feeling sidelined were also involved. It was a joint effort,” the leader said.
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