Mamata Banerjee Asserts Trinamul's Dominance in Bengal, Announces Solo Battle at Massive Brigade Rally

At a sizable Brigade rally on Sunday, Mamata Banerjee publicly declared victory in all 42 Lok Sabha elections for the Trinamul party, effectively ending the INDIA effort in Bengal.

The chief minister began her speech by saying, "You will see something new today: I shall walk with our party's 42 candidates on this ramp."

Apart from the first-ever announcement of party nominees at a rally, the talking point was two perpendicular ramps that extended from the main dais in the shape of a horizontal cross, allowing Mamata to go closer to the throng.

Due to the protracted process of negotiating a seat agreement, Mamata, a pivotal figure in the establishment of INDIA, had started to lose interest. She had been blaming the Congress for the disintegration of the alliance in Bengal and had stated time and time again over the last few months that Trinamul would go it alone.

"In all 42 seats, we will compete alone. "Elect us if you want Bengal to be self-sufficient," she said to the assembly.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of Congress, countered, saying, "Our doors are always open and an alliance can happen anytime."

Jairam Ramesh, the general secretary of the Congress, stated that his party has made it clear time and time again that it wanted to share seats in Bengal with Trinamul. "Congress has consistently argued that negotiations must conclude such an agreement, rather than being announced unilaterally," he stated in a post on X. "The Congress has consistently favored the INDIA group combating the BJP in unison."

Even though there were some complaints within the Trinamul ranks about the nominations, the organization's leadership emphasized that the list, which includes two cricket players from India, three actresses from Tollywood, an expert on Santhali literature, and an associate professor of psychiatry, accurately reflected the diversity of Bengal.

Another type of variety mentioned by a party insider was the presence of Mamata's and her heir apparent Abhishek Banerjee's supporters.

Rerun of "Outsider"

The three and a half-hour program, which was interspersed with singing and dancing, included a video exposing the foolishness of the BJP and hinted that Trinamul intended to use the same derogatory term that had proved so effective in 2021 against the party.

Mamata spoke the words, "Jonogoner gorjon, bohiragatoder bisharjan"—"The people's roar is the death knell for outsiders."

Mahua Moitra and Saayoni Ghosh participated in a political rally on Sunday afternoon at Brigade Parade Ground. (10.03.2024)
The image from Bishwarup Dutta's Telegraph
According to many Trinamul sources, the party's poll strategists concluded that the best strategy to prevent Prime Minister Narendra Modi from winning over the state's people was to paint the BJP as "outsiders" and accuse the national government of denying Bengal.

Mamata and Abhishek declared that the people of Bengal could not expect anything from a party of "outsiders" that included some state-affiliated anti-Bengal individuals.

"You awarded them eighteen seats (in 2019) and several more in the Assembly elections (in 2021)... For you, what have they accomplished? stated Mamata.

Some members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) often travel to Delhi and instruct their leaders not to grant cash for Bengal. They are stealing all the money from the state, but they have stopped paying us our rightful dues.

In agreement with her, Abhishek refuted Modi's assertion that Rs 43,000 crore had been released for rural housing projects during the previous two years. After 24 minutes of speech, he spontaneously started answering questions from the audience.

He continued, urging the audience to answer a loud "no" in response to his repeated question, "Do you want those who don't give money to Bengal, are against Bengal?"

two difficulties

Mamata stated that the BJP's attempts to sway the Election Commission's operations have reduced the likelihood of a free and fair election process.

"Let me start by saying that Arun Goel, an election commissioner, resigned yesterday. She speculated on the reasons for the resignation, saying, "I saw in the newspapers that he could not agree with the plot of inflicting atrocities and conducting the elections with the use of force to conquer Bengal." "The central government has been preparing a scheme to steal Bengal's votes."

"I salute him (Goel) from this meeting," she continued.

Mamata stated that the other issue was the abuse of government agencies such as the income-tax department, the CBI, and the ED. "They are attempting to use the agencies to plunder the elections." The election commissioner made this revelation, she asserted.

The path ahead

Disappointed by allegations of conflicts between aunt and nephew that had slowed down poll preparations for the past few months, party lines appear to have become clearer after the Mamata-Abhishek tango at the Brigade.

Party sources, however, stated that it would be difficult to finish the outstanding work in time for the elections. "A large-scale Brigade demonstration that was supposed to happen in December or January was postponed. We don't have much time, and there is still a lot of territory to cover," the source stated.

Between March 14 and 22, Abhishek has five large rallies planned, starting in Jalpaiguri. There are also planned smaller gatherings with different communities to discuss issues related to identity. On Tuesday, there will be a meeting with the SC, ST, and OBC groups at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.

According to a source, Mamata has a schedule of about eighty-five campaign meetings, and she will probably begin touring the state starting next week. "After getting input from the ground during Abhishek's Nabo Jowar (New Tide) Yatra, the venues would be chosen. According to a source, each seat's objective conditions will also be taken into account.

According to a source, the struggle would probably be more intense than in 2021, but Trinamul would prevail because it wouldn't be a bipolar conflict.

"There will be a three-way race, with the Left and Congress expected to finish tied. We will undoubtedly benefit from the split in anti-Trinamul voters, he stated.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.