KOLKATA: With chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘BJP zindabad’ reverberating through the lanes of Bhabanipur, the BJP on Thursday transformed Suvendu Adhikari’s nomination filing into a saffron show of strength in the very constituency that has long been Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s political fortress.
Adhikari was accompanied by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and state party president Samik Bhattacharya and other leaders.
Standing atop an open-hood, flower-decked truck fitted with giant BJP cut-outs and lotus symbols, Shah waved to cheering supporters as the convoy rolled out from Hazra crossing, amid tight security and a shower of flower petals from terraces and balconies.
If Bhabanipur is Mamata Banerjee’s backyard, the BJP on Thursday sought to breach it with drums, slogans and a direct political challenge.
“Today, I have come especially for Suvendu Adhikari’s nomination,” Shah told a gathering at Hazra crossing before the roadshow began.
Moments later, Shah and Adhikari climbed onto the specially decorated vehicle and began the procession through Bhabanipur.
As the convoy moved through the constituency’s streets, saffron flags fluttered from lamp posts and rooftops. Supporters lined both sides of the road, some chanting ‘Ebar Banglay BJP’, others raising cries of ‘Mamata hatao, Bangla bachao’.
The loudest slogans, however, were reserved for Shah and Adhikari.
On the vehicle with Shah and Adhikari were BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya, Rashbehari assembly constituency candidate Swapan Dasgupta and Chowringhee nominee Santosh Pathak, underlining the BJP’s attempt to turn the Bhabanipur battle into the centrepiece of its south Kolkata campaign.
For the BJP, the optics were unmistakable.
As the convoy approached Kalighat, barely a few hundred metres from Banerjee’s residence, Trinamool Congress workers and supporters gathered on the roadside waving green-and-white party flags, shouting ‘Joy Bangla’ and ‘Mamata Banerjee zindabad’ slogans.
However, the situation turned tense when the BJP roadshow and the TMC protest came face to face near Kalighat.
For several minutes, supporters of the two rival camps stood barely a few metres apart, hurling slogans at each other.
A thick cordon of police personnel formed a human wall between the two groups to prevent any clash, with officers pushing the rival supporters back on either side of the road.
The face-off brought traffic to a halt and heightened tension in the area before the BJP convoy moved ahead.
The sight of saffron flags and green-and-white banners facing each other across a line of policemen captured the sharp political polarisation that now defines Bhabanipur and much of Bengal politics.
