Throwing her weight behind what has been Abhishek Banerjee’s show so far, Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee lauded her nephew’s efforts to reach out to the masses on the 10th day of the scheduled two-month ‘Trinamul-e Naba Jowar’ grass roots campaign and called it a programme which has her blessings since “it enjoys the people’s support”.
Throwing her weight behind what has been Abhishek Banerjee’s show so far,
Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee lauded her nephew’s efforts to reach out to the masses on the 10th day of the two-month "Trinamul-e Naba Jowar" grassroots campaign, saying “it enjoys the people’s support”, thereby throwing her weight behind what has been Abhishek Banerjee's show so far.
“I had asked Abhishek to think twice before taking up this daunting challenge to stay on the streets for a stretch of two months. But the youth has a way of taking up challenges. I attach a lot of importance to this movement by Abhishek and his team of Trinamul youngsters since it is aimed at reaching out to the people and is already enjoying the support of the people,” Banerjee said at the Naba Jowar’s English Bazaar session in Malda on Thursday.
Faced with an uphill perception battle which the ruling Trinamul is having to fight in Bengal in the wake of charges of large scale corruption in recruitment in public offices and schools as well as political violence across the state, Abhishek, the party’s national general secretary, kicked off his public relation outreach from Dinhata in Cooch Behar on April 25 in the run up to the scheduled panchayat polls. Nine days and a few inner-party skirmishes over election of favourite panchayat candidates later, his juggernaut reached Malda where he was joined by the chief minister who was in the area for a district-level administrative meeting.
The proposed overhaul within the embattled ruling dispensation, a Trinamul 2.0 of sorts, was planned by Abhishek along corporate lines where revitalized public relations with the grassroots would be merged with a daily end-of-day schedule of people voting to choose candidates for their local panchayats. The possibility of questions being raised within the party on whether the programme enjoyed genuine legitimacy of the supremo herself, since it wasn’t being spearheaded by her, was nipped in the bud by Mamata on Thursday.
“I am preparing my next generation of leaders in the party to get ready to not only take on the BJP but pin them down even when I am gone. That task would be taken forward by the likes of Abhishek and Bobby (Firhad Hakim),” Banerjee said with both her nephew and the Calcutta mayor on stage by her side.
“I live beside the Aadi Ganga in Calcutta where Rani Rashmoni came to take her bath. I know how the water gushes in during jowar (high tide). This naba jowar of the party is not just a high tide to stop it from ebbing away, it will flood the organization with energy and enthusiasm. I welcome the rush of youth within the party while retaining due respect and position for the experienced members,” the Trinamul chairperson declared, reiterating her earlier stand on having the right mix of old and new faces within the party leadership.
In a district where minority community votes hold considerable sway, Banerjee reaffirmed her pledge to not allow any attempt by the Centre to implement CAA or NRC. “I have stopped it before. I will stop it again,” she said.
Calling the BJP a party which causes “both visual and sound pollution”, the chief minister said, albeit without naming anyone: “A footwear serves best when it is on foot. It should not be placed on the head.”
“The fall of the BJP is inevitable. I will be happy if it starts from Karnataka,” Banerjee said, referring to the upcoming Assembly elections in the southern state. “We are not contesting in that state. All I am asking people is to not vote for the BJP. People can vote for any other party there except the BJP. Can other Opposition parties say the same for states where we are fighting the elections?” she added, making oblique reference to the political stand of the Left and Congress which perceptively have been taking on the Trinamul in Bengal with grit.
