Mamta Banerjee’s party Trinamool Congress has increased activism after the announcement of election dates in the three North-East states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland. Trinamool Congress has announced to contest all the seats in Tripura and Meghalaya. Mamta’s nephew and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has taken over the command of both the states.
According to sources, in the middle of February, Mamta Banerjee herself will go to these states for election campaign. It is believed that Trinamool has given full strength in the elections of these two states. Only after the bumper victory in Bengal elections 2021, Mamta had announced to contest elections in other states as well. After this, the supporters again started chanting ‘Hawai Choti Dilli Jaawe’ (Hawai Chappal will go to Delhi).
(Photo-Social Media)
Why the claim of Delhi, 3 reasons…
1. Confusion about the face in the opposition- Who will be the face of the PM from the opposition in the Lok Sabha elections 2024? There is still a state of confusion regarding this, while only 395 days are left for the election.
Enthused by the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congressmen are calling Rahul Gandhi the face of the PM. Apart from Rahul Gandhi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar are also big contenders for the PM face in the opposition.
That is, till now the opposition parties have not been able to agree on any one face. In such a situation, Mamta Banerjee is also trying to strengthen her claim.
2. Image of direct competition with PM Modi and BJP- In the Bengal elections 2021, Mamta single-handedly fought against PM Modi and the entire BJP election machinery. Mamta had given a big defeat to BJP in this close-fought battle of Bengal. The BJP got an unexpected victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Bengal.
After the Bengal elections, Mamta’s image became one of direct fight with PM Modi and BJP. After this, on many occasions, there was also a clash between BJP and Trinamool in Bengal.
3. Experience of central and state politics as well- Mamta Banerjee is the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the last 12 years. In 1998, she founded the Trinamool Congress, since then she has been running her party.
Mamta Banerjee has been a minister in the governments of Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh at the Center. Mamta has been an MP in the Lok Sabha for 25 years. In her first election to the Lok Sabha in 1984, Mamta defeated veteran leader Somnath Chatterjee.
Mamta got strength from Amartya Sen’s statement
Recently, in an interview, renowned economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen had described Mamta Banerjee as a better contender for the post of Prime Minister. Sen had said that Mamata Banerjee has the potential to become the prime minister and can turn the public’s frustration against the Modi government into a force.
With this statement of Sen, Mamta, who was isolated from national politics, has got a strength. After Sen’s interview, Mamta immediately gave a statement and even said that Sen’s advice is like an order for her.
Now know Mamta Banerjee’s strategy in 3 points
1. Engaged in strengthening the fort of Bengal
In the 2019 elections, BJP won 18 seats in West Bengal with 42 seats. It was like a setback for Mamta’s party. Before the 2024 war, Mamta is busy strengthening the fort of Bengal.
For this, the party has chalked out a strategy at 2 levels. 1. public relation 2. social media.
Mamata Banerjee herself has taken charge of public relations in North Bengal, the weakest fort in Bengal. In the last one year, Banerjee has visited more than 5 North Bengal.
For the first time in Bengal, the Trinamool Congress has formed an IT and social media cell. Its command has been handed over to the flamboyant youth leader Debanshu Bhattacharya.
2. Strong presence in North-East Trinamool Congress is focusing on 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, 3 in Assam, 2 in Tripura, 2 in Goa and one in Meghalaya. Mamta is trying to make Trinamool a national party by registering a strong presence in these 5 states. The National People’s Party of the North East is already a national party.
Mamta is trying to increase the mass base in these states and take Trinamool Congress to more than one state, so that the path to Delhi becomes easier. That’s why Trinamool Congress has put full force in the North-East elections.
3. Expectation of support from Akhilesh and HemantTo ease the way to Delhi, Mamta is expected to get support from Akhilesh Yadav in UP and Hemant Soren in Jharkhand. Akhilesh Yadav has also told Mamta the face of PM, while Hemant has held public meetings in Bengal in favor of Trinamool Congress candidates.
(Photo-PTI)
There are 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP and 14 in Jharkhand. In such a situation, if both parties get support, then Mamta’s path can be easier than other opposition leaders.
Strategy right, but still far away from Delhi
Mamta Banerjee is constantly changing the strategy to make the road to Delhi easier. Along with the leaders of regional parties, she is constantly in touch with the Congress. Despite this, Delhi is far away for Mamta.
Due to political violence, many parties are in protest- Due to political violence in Bengal, many leftist parties including CPM are against Mamta. CPM is a national party, due to which Mamta’s claim for Delhi can also be weakened.
According to the NCRB report, 161 political murders have taken place in Bengal from 2010 to 2019. This is the highest in the country.
Veteran leaders like Anuvrat Mandal and Partha Chatterjee in jail- Leaders like Partha Chatterjee and Anuvrat Mandal, who played an important role in the 2021 election victory, are in jail. Parth is behind bars in the education recruitment scam and Anuvrat cattle smuggling case.
Both the leaders have had a direct impact on almost 5 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal. Apart from this, both the leaders also looked after the fund management of Trinamool Congress.