May 16: Trinamul leaders in Burdwan and Birbhum have decided to bury differences among factions and reach out to people ahead of the panchayat polls next year, in an attempt to counter the BJP's campaign at the booth level.

The ruling party's move comes weeks after BJP national president Amit Shah launched his party's booth-level outreach programme.

In Burdwan East and West, the Trinamul leaders are visiting households and enquiring about people's grievances. They are also highlighting development projects of the state government and seeking feedback from the beneficiaries of several schemes.

In Birbhum, the Trinamul leadership has decided to field its women's wing.

"The villagers are angry with us for repeated incidents of factional feuds and corruption charges against some of our leaders.... The BJP is trying to take advantage of this anger. It is very important for us to regain the confidence of people ahead of the polls," a senior Trinamul leader said.

The BJP, which has already been carrying out outreach programmes in the two districts over the past few weeks, will organise a 15-day "Booth Chalo Mission" from June 7. Over 10,000 party workers and supporters are expected to participate in the march.

Ahead of that, Trinamul leaders are holding interactive sessions with small groups of villagers over tea and puffed rice. "We are visiting neighbourhoods, gathering people around over cha and muri, and trying to judge their mood. We haven't done such things in the past," a Trinamul leader said in Birbhum.

Such intensive door-to-door reachout is, however, not new in Bengal politics. In the early days of the Left Front regime, political leaders used to regularly visit villages as part of their attempt to expand the base of the combine.

Trinamul's Khandaghosh MLA Nabin Chandra Bag, who has been leading the outreach drive in his area, denied the BJP aspect to the exercise.

"We have always been with the people. This is not new. Most people are satisfied with our work. Some are not. This is helping us address their grievances better," he said.

The BJP refused to attach much importance to Trinamul's counter-campaign.

"Trinamul has started fearing us because of our relentless growth in the state. Everywhere we go, everything we do, people welcome us warmly. These counter-measures will not help Trinamul," said Sandip Nandi, the BJP president in Burdwan East.