Dinhata (Cooch Behar), May 3: Mamata Banerjee today said she personally knew Kamal Guha, the Forward Bloc leader from Dinhata whose son is contesting the seat for Trinamul this time, in an attempt to woo voters who have chosen the Bloc for several decades.

Kamal Guha's son Udayan had won Dinhata as a Bloc candidate in 2011. He joined Trinamul in October last year.

"Udayan er pita Kamal Guha r sathe amar ekta personal janashona chhilo. Uni amake sneho korten ... bhalobashten .... (I knew Udayan's father Kamal Guha personally. He liked me ... loved me)," Mamata said at a meeting in Dinhata.

"Udayan's elder sister (Indrani Brahma) also works with us. She is a member on one of our committees," she told the gathering at Shonghoti Maidan here on the last day of campaigning before the May 5 elections.

Naming Trinamul candidates from Cooch Behar, Mamata told the 35,000-odd people from Dinhata and Sitai constituencies: " Eder joraful chinhe vote deoar jonno amra sokoler kachhe haat jor kore abedon korchhi. Ajkei amader procharer last din. Ebong last din e ... Banglar Vidhan Sabha nirbachon e sesh vote gulo kintu apnanara deben. Apnader vote e sorkar ekebare confirm toiri hoye jabe. (We request you all with folded hands to vote for them on the flower symbol. Today is the last date of our campaign. And on the last day ... the last votes for the Bengal Assembly elections would be cast by you. Your vote will confirm the making of the government)."

According to political observers, Mamata's emphasis on the Guha family was an attempt by the Trinamul chief to drive home the point that she and her party were close to them.

"The principal deterrent for Trinamul in Dinhata is the fact that from 1962, when Kamal Guha contested the polls for the first time, the Forward Bloc has become synonymous with the Guha family. This year, Udayan Guha is contesting as the Trinamul candidate. This is hard to digest for many dedicated voters of the Bloc who have voted for the father and son for several years. The Forward Bloc candidate of Dinhata (Akshay Thakur) has already highlighted the issue in his campaign," an observer said.

Slamming the BJP, Mamata a lleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to divide Bengal.

"Vote er agey Assam theke koekta lok chole ashey, r eshey bole ... rajyo chai ... hobe na. Cooch Behar Cooch Behar er motoi thakbe. Ami Darjeeling bhenge dite parbo na. Cooch Behar bhenge dite parbo na ... sheshob BJP kore (Before the polls, some people come from Assam, they come and say we want state... it will not happen. Cooch Behar will continue to be like Cooch Behar. I can't divide Darjeeling. I can't divide Cooch Behar ... the BJP does these things) ," she said in her 27-minute-long speech.

Referring to a BJP meet in north Bengal before the April 17 polls where Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and Greater Cooch Behar Peoples' Association - both demand separate states - leaders were present, she said: " Prodhan montri eshe meeting korlen. Ek pashe Darjeeling bhenge dewar netara ra, ek pashe Cooch Behar bhenge dewar neta ... lojjao kore na ... (The Prime Minister came and held a meeting. On one side were leaders who want to divide Darjeeling and on the other was a leader who wants to divide Cooch Behar ... they have no shame )."

Today, Mamata also addressed meetings at Mathabhanga and Changrabandha in the district.

At Changrabandha, she also spoke about taking control in Delhi in 2019. " Dekhechhi Dillir atyachar, Congress, CPM, BJP aar Dillir netader shontrash o atyachar.... Benchey thaki jodi, 2016 te toh amrai jitbo. 2019 Dilli dokhol korbo (I have seen Delhi's torture, the Congress, CPM, BJP and Delhi leaders' torture and terror. If I am alive, in 2016 we will win. In 2019, we will capture Delhi)."

At the Dinhata rally, more than 15 people fell ill after sitting under the sun for over three hours. Some were taken to the local subdivisional hospital. Five have been admitted. Cooch Behar recorded a maximum temperature of 35° Celsius today.

"Trinamul leaders had asked supporters to reach the venue by 11am, about three hours before the chief minister was to arrive. Most reached by 11.30am," said a police officer .

One dead

Rashidul Haque, 30, from Nayarhat in Dinhata, died on Tuesday after he fell from a truck ferrying Trinamul supporters for the meeting.

Three others were injured and have been admitted to the Dinhata subdivisional hospital.

Rashidul and the three others had climbed on top of the truck drivers' cabin after the rally. As the vehicle rolled out of a school where it was parked, a portion of the school gate hit them and they fell off the vehicle.