Hands outstretched, CPM supporters greet Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee during the chief minister’s roadshow in Jadavpur on Saturday; Mamata Banerjee at the Trinamul Congress padayatra in Howrah. Pictures by Pradip Sanyal and Bishwarup Dutta

Calcutta, April 9: The Trinamul Congress today unleashed on the road its own brand of Gen X with the chant that their elders have mastered — change.

Exactly a week after the sons and daughters of Left veterans led the campaign for a 25-year-old candidate, Team Mamata’s junior squad was out to cheer for their “Uncle Javed” — Javed Ahmed Khan, the 55-year-old Trinamul candidate for Kasba.

While the Left team went door to door with the CPM’s Shatarup Ghosh, their Trinamul counterparts followed in “leader” Mamata Banerjee’s footsteps, marching almost 6km in the forefront of a procession.

Two doctors, an MBBS student, a lawyer and a law student, an actress, a budding manager, an ad woman, a Sector V employee and a 24-year-old “full-time politician”, the mix on show matched that of voters in a constituency with a curious mix of old houses and new apartment blocks and an equally diverse blend of voters.

From Mamata Banerjee’s nephew with slick, gelled hair to councillor Atin Ghosh’s PWC employee daughter in fancy shades, from MLA Bobby Hakim’s 11-year-old daughter to MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar’s doctor son wearing a party badge on his lapel, the Trinamul leaders on Saturday had an average age of around 22.

Led by Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who identified himself as a full-time politician, they marched through the serpentine lanes of old Kasba and past the speeding cars on the six-lane Rash Behari Connector.

The 5km walk ended around 6.30pm outside Jadavpur police station, from where chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had started his own roadshow barely 90 minutes ago.

“These are historic times. Change will come and a Trinamul government will bring in that change. We are here to make our contribution,” said Baidyanath Ghosh Dastidar, MP Kakoli’s doctor son.

La Martiniere student Agnish Basu, who has just finished his ICSE, was walking shoulder to shoulder with Baidyanath, 25. CMC councillor Anita Basu’s son said: “The young generation is looking for a change. I’m here to promote the idea of that change, though my first vote is two years away.”

Next to Agnish were MLA Bobby’s three daughters — Priyadarshini, Shabba and Afshaa. Afshaa is only 11.

Shashi Panja’s daughter Pooja, a third-year student of law at Calcutta University, was the first to reach the Trinamul block office, 57 KN Sen Road, for the youth parade. Among those who followed were MLA Partha Chatterjee’s daughter Sohini and MLA Sadhan Pande’s actress daughter Shrreya.

“Badla noy, badal chai (We want change, not revenge),” said their banner. “One lady is doing so much for change. Young people need to come out and vote. Sitting at home and criticising politicians is not enough,” Shrreya said.

Flanking and following the fashionably turned out youngsters were scores of local Trinamul workers. “We have to defeat the CPM. Whoever comes to campaign against the CPM is welcome,” said Ashok Das, a middle-aged Trinamul worker towards the tail of the procession.

Not everybody seemed to agree. “Soon, only the sons and daughters of leaders will become leaders in Trinamul and we will be there only for the chores. This never happened before in our party,” said a fellow walker.

If the surge of people at Mamata’s shows is a benchmark, the rally by the young would come close to being called a damp squib. There were many onlookers curious at the new look but the numbers simply did not match up.

A senior party leader explained why. “Most of them are not familiar faces. We weren’t looking at bringing faces to draw the crowds. We had to show that more from the younger generation wanted change.”

The Kasba constituency was carved out of Ballygunge, Dhakuria and Jadavpur. In the 2006 Assembly polls, Khan had won from Ballygunge while the RSP’s Kshiti Goswami and chief minister Bhattacharjee had bagged Dhakuria and Jadavpur, respectively