KOLKATA: More than 80% of 211 Trinamool Congress MLAs ‘failed’ to comply with the directives issued by party supremo Mamata Banerjee in regard to the "Didi Ke Bolo" (Tell Your Sister) outreach drive, a survey conducted by Prashant Kishor’s team I-PAC revealed.
In a meeting with the CM’s nephew Abhishek, Trinamool Congress’ secretary-general Partha Chatterjee and state president Subrata Bakshi, Kishor revealed how most of the MLAs had skipped the phases of the drive to reach the local masses ignoring the CM’s dictate.
“We have been told that majority of the MLAs did not complete the seven phases of the outreach drive, which include spending a night at a worker’s house, hoisting party’s flag next morning in the area and addressing a rally in the locality. Kishor told us to ask the MLAs to complete all the phases of the outreach drive within January 12,’’ said a Trinamool leader.
The outreach drive is a brainchild of Kishor, who was hired by the Bengal CM after the ruling party’s poor showing in the 2019 LS elections. Kishor had drawn up an elaborate roadmap to reach the masses across the state and advised the ruling party’s MLAs, including ministers, to carry out the outreach initiative.
“Seven instructions were given to MLAs... Once the MLAs submitted their report, Kishor’s team swung into action to cross-check the legislators’ performance and the fact emerged,’’ said an MLA.
The MLAs who haven’t complied, have been asked to complete the directives of the drive within January 12 and submit a fresh report.
Other than spending a night at a booth worker’s house, MLAs were asked to hold a meeting on the courtyard of the house with locals, regardless of their political affiliation