The strides being made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and elections, including the rural polls, in mind, Trinamul Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to begin a tour from Murshidabad to Siliguri soon. As she left Siliguri for Kolkata on 9 February, Miss Banerjee gave a hint to her close associates about her plans to visit Murshidabad, Malda, South Dinajpur, North Dinajpur, and finally Siliguri, sources have said.

“She, however, did not specifically disclose the itinerary of her trip that will begin from Murshidabad,” the sources said. It is, however, learnt that she may arrive in Siliguri on 27 February and leave for Kolkata by air that very day. “The date of her journey has not yet been confirmed. If the CM starts visiting Murshidabad on 19 February, she would be coming here on 23 February. If she starts visiting central Bengal on 23 February, the date of her Siliguri visit would be 27 February.

Nothing has been finalized yet,” sources said. Meanwhile, the Trinamul Congress leadership in Malda has started preparing for the upcoming rural polls from the booth level. “In order to retain power and to beat the BJP in both rural and Lok Sabha polls, the Trinamul will focus on areas dominated by the minority population. Central Bengal, especially the newly-constituted Malda Division, comprising Murshidabad, Malda and two Dinajpur districts are Muslim-dominated,” political sources said.

Sources said Miss Banerjee will camp in Malda and then hold meetings in South and North Dinajpur. It may be mentioned here that both the central and state level BJP leaders have been frequenting Malda, North and South Dinajpur to increase its organizational base. On the other hand, sources said that after senior Trinamul Congress Mukul Roy joined the BJP, a section of the Trinamul Congress workers has started contacting the BJP leaders in this region.

An official source said Miss Banerjee is fighting “communal polarization” among voters created by the BJP rather than a political one. Meanwhile, in Malda, the Trinamul Congress held a booth-level party workers’ convention (SNS photo) where leaders like the state president of the Trinamul, Subrata Bakshi, and Subhendu Adhikary, the minister and party observer for Malda, said secular political parties of the country have set their eyes on the rural polls in Bengal.

“As Mamata Banerjee has been given a clarion call to steer the boat of national politics, all the panchayats of this state are to be gifted to her now,” the leaders said at the programme at Mission Road, Narayanpur, in Old Malda Block. The programme was attended by around 40,000 people, leaders claimed. The leaders also cautioned the district leadership against repeating the “same story of factionalism like during the last assembly elections, which ultimately led the party to go empty-handed in Malda.” Both the leaders expressed their expectations, rather than confidence, for a huge win in the rural polls in the district.

“The secular powers of the country are now eyeing us, and the Trinamul Congress has already established itself as a very strong institution in India. We all should remember that our only leader is Mamata Banerjee,” Mr Bakshi added. On the other hand Mr Adhikary said that the party leadership had the “medicine” for the “Bbibhishans” of the party who had sunk the TMC’s ship in Malda in the last assembly elections. “It is our duty to gift all the panchayats to our leader Mamata Banerjee, who will sail the ship of national politics in the country. We are the numero uno in Malda right now for no party could ever organize such a big convention, not even the Congress,” he said. He added that two such conventions for only female activists of the party, one in north Bengal and other in the south, would be organized soon.