The Bengal BJP has launched a mass outreach initiative called “Durnitir Biruddhe Amader Dilipda” or “Our Dilipda against corruption” ahead of the Assembly polls with the campaign being seen as a direct response to Mamata Banerjee’s “Didi Ke Bolo” programme to address people’s grievances.

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday unveiled a website and a phone number for people to register their complaints against the alleged corruption of the ruling dispensation. “This initiative will strengthen our fight against corruption in the state. People can contact us through these platforms anytime between 10am and 5pm from Monday to Saturday,” Ghosh said.

The saffron brigade tried their best to dispel suggestions that the initiative was modelled along the Trinamul Congress’s successful digital campaign Didi Ke Bolo (Tell Didi).

Some in the BJP saw in the initiative a bid to pitch Ghosh as the party’s tallest leader in Bengal and the direct competitor of Mamata.

Such a positioning of Ghosh drew sharp reaction from a section of the BJP’s Bengal unit.

“People will think that we are copying Trinamul’s campaign. Firstly, they had initiated their programme before us and secondly, there is a striking similarity in the names,” a BJP insider said.

Another state leader said: “A party like the BJP should not project a person like this.”

Trinamul MP Saugata Roy said the BJP programme was “a poor imitation of Didi Ke Bolo”. He added that the BJP had “false hopes” if it thought the people of Bengal would even wish to connect to Ghosh.

“Such measures from the BJP will have no political impact whatsoever on the state,” Roy said.

Reacting to Roy’s allegations, a BJP leader said: “Our online presence dates back to 1999. No other party has any match to the kind of penetration we enjoy on digital platforms.”

Earlier in April, a website titled “Amader Dilipda” or Our Dilipda was launched. The website which primarily shared details about Ghosh and his activities turned into a platform for the people affected by Cyclone Amphan to register their complaints. The party had claimed it had received numerous complaints about misappropriation of relief materials and funds meant for the Amphan-affected families through this platform.

A source in the BJP’s IT cell said similar programmes would be launched from time to time in the run up to the polls.

A phone number was launched a few days ago under a campaign called “Aar Noye Anyay” or No more injustice and it was well received.

“The response has encouraged us to come up with other programmes such as the one launched on Wednesday,” the source said.