Modi and Mamata Return to North Bengal: A Recap of the 2019 Election Nicknames

Voters in north Bengal were introduced to two new monikers for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee five years before to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

When they were in the area on April 3, 2019, to promote their parties, Modi called Mamata "Speedbreaker Didi," and she called the Prime Minister "Expiry Babu."

On April 4, exactly five years later, Modi and Mamata will be campaigning in Cooch Behar, north Bengal, on the same day.

In the first phase, on April 19, voting will take place in three seats in the region: Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, and Alipurduar.

"Listening to the two top leaders coin nicknames for one another was amusing. Both had used the other's moniker many times in their speeches after using the phrases at the start of their 2019 election campaign. They will be in north Bengal on the same day this time around. We are interested to know whether they discuss each other in such a way once again, said Soumen Nag, a Siliguri-based social researcher.

On April 1, the first day of the new fiscal year, veteran campaigners from Trinamul and the Bharatiya Janata Party will begin their campaigns in north Bengal, the site of the first three phases of the general elections.

On April 7, the Prime Minister will address three public gatherings; the other two will be in north Bengal, at Jalpaiguri and Balurghat.

On the other hand, Mamata will speak at twelve gatherings around the area on April 16 in addition to attending a road show in Siliguri.

Six (of the eight) Lok Sabha seats in the area where polls would be conducted in the first two phases would be covered by her three-phase campaign in north Bengal, starting on April 4 and ending on April 16, according to a source.

She is scheduled to visit Malda at the end of April, when on May 7 there will be elections for two seats (Malda North and South).

Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of Trinamul, is scheduled to convene an organizational gathering in the southern regions of Siliguri on April 1. He's going to Cooch Behar the next day.

Both Trinamul and the BJP are steadfastly concentrating on north Bengal as the election dates approach. In this area, the saffron party won seven of the eight seats in 2019. Congress was given the eighth seat (Malda South), thus Trinamul was unable to gain even one seat.

Trinamul trailed the BJP in 2021, even though it won a landslide win in the state and 23 out of 54 Assembly seats. In contrast, the BJP won 30 seats.

But in 2022, Trinamul's fortunes began to flip as the party was able to take control of every local government in the area. Additionally, the party did well in the rural elections and had a chance to win the previous year's Dhupguri Assembly by-election.

"Trinamul has benefited from these results, which have increased pressure on the BJP. As a result, both groups are decided. An analyst said, "Trinamul seeks to grab the seats from the saffron party, while BJP is anxious to hold onto the seats.

It is a significant area for the BJP since it has put up candidates like state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar (in Balurghat), Nisith Pramanik, and Raju Bista in Darjeeling and Cooch Behar.

"The BJP is determined to retain its hold in Darjeeling, another seat. Since 2009, it has been gaining the seat, the observer continued.

Amit Shah, the Union home minister, will visit north Bengal in addition to Modi.

He is scheduled to speak at two public gatherings in Alipurduar (on April 9) and Mainaguri (on April 7). A top BJP official in Siliguri said, "We are optimistic of holding the seats and even winning the Malda south seat.

Suvendu Adhikari, the head of the opposition in the Assembly, will go to north Bengal on Monday, much as Abhishek.