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| The procession of Trinamul supporters sporting Mamata masks at the rally in New Alipore. (Below) Bhattacharjee cradles the baby that he named at the Bijoygarh rally. Pictures by Amit Datta and Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya |
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Calcutta, April 12: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s worst nightmare unfolded in New Alipore today: not one but 3,000 Mamata Banerjees advancing on the battlefield.
Fortunately for Bhattacharjee, the Mamatas of all shapes and sizes were only pretenders trying out a campaign device widely used in Gujarat during the 2007 Assembly elections.
As curious residents and passers-by watched, the serpentine procession of homemakers, children and young men sporting Mamata masks wound its way through a 15km stretch to campaign for the Trinamul leader. The area falls under Mamata’s Calcutta South constituency.
“It was innovative. I was very impressed by today’s show in which those who love me walked in a procession sporting my masks,” Mamata later said with a smile.
It is not clear whether the CPM will let a thousand “Buddha masks” bloom. But the chief minister seems to have taken a leaf out of the American book of campaigning, never mind what Prakash Karat would make of it.
Campaigning for the CPM candidate in the Jadavpur seat today, Bhattacharjee had to cradle a five-month-old in his arms, make the gestures and sounds that are supposed to comfort babies and finally name the infant — a form of art kissed into shape by American politicians.
After the chief minister completed his speech at Bijoygarh, a local CPM leader took a resident, Mousumi Sarkar, and the baby to Bhattacharjee as she wanted him to name her child. The chief minister called him “Arunodaya (Sunrise)”. Such goodwill gestures are common in southern India but communists usually steer clear of emotional displays.
If the copyright to Bhattacharjee’s baby encounter is held by the Americans, opinion is divided in Trinamul on how the Mamata mask idea dawned on the party.
Trinamul MLA Arup Biswas, who organised the mask march, said he got the idea from a soft drink ad featuring Sachin Tendulkar. “I came across an ad on television where children were sporting Sachin masks. I have been trying since then to organise Mamatadi’s masks,” Arup said. He added that 5,000 masks were printed at a private press, each costing Rs 1.50.
But a Trinamul youth leader from Tollygunge said: “The idea was borrowed from the campaign for Gujarat elections when BJP activists organised road shows sporting Narendra Modi’s mask.”
The mention of Modi will be a red rag to Mamata who has been trying to live down her past association with the BJP. Asked about the Modi parallel, Arup shot back: “I told you the fact and now you can interpret it as you like.”
Behind the mask lie plans for more Mamata memorabilia: saris printed with her portrait and sunshades and umbrellas with her picture.
