KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is utilising her mass connect as Didi (sister) to strengthen the ruling party’s position in the state after the Lok Sabha poll debacle. On Monday, she launched a ‘Didi Ke Bolo’ (tell your sister) campaign to listen to the grievances and suggestions of the masses.
Teams will monitor the complaints and suggestions received on the dedicated phone number, 91370-91370, and website (www.didikebolo.com) and report to the chief minister. ‘‘The reply could be through Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, text or voices messages,’’ said a Trinamool leader. The move, part of Trinamool’s Jansanyog Yatra, was said to be conceptualised by poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who was hired by Mamata.
Around 1,000 Trinamool representatives will visit 10,000 villages in 100 days across the state as part of the yatra. Mamata on Monday met the elected representatives of her party in Parliament, and Assembly, heads of zila parishads and municipalities at Nazrul Mancha, an open-air auditorium in south Kolkata. ‘‘The party will decide the representatives who will visit 10,000 villages during the yatra.
They will meet common people and party workers, eat at the houses of booth-level workers and spend night at villages, if necessary. This is to strengthen the reach to grassroot level,’’ she said after the meeting
Highlighting the aim behind the campaign, Mamata said, ‘‘We want to give citizens a voice. Our mass connect has already been proven in last year’s panchayat elections. Now, we want to strengthen it. We have also started a grievance cell at the CMO.’’ Asked whether the party will be overhauled, Mamata said this is modernisation of Trinamool.
Two lynched in last 24 hours in West Bengal
Two persons were lynched in separate incidents in West Bengal’s Alipurduar and Nadia districts. A vagabond, who was suspected to be a child-lifter, was beaten to death near Tasati tea estate in Alipurduar and in Nadia’s Kalyani, a private security guard was lynched by local residents after he allegedly passed lewd remarks at a woman. Last week, intellectuals from Bengal wrote a letter to the Prime Minister on the issues of intolerance and lynching.