Mamata Banerjee seeks Prashant Kishor’s help in engaging inactive, defected workers in 2021 poll-battle. It seems like Kishor’s team I-PAC has swung already into action as it is preparing a ground-level report.
KOLKATA 3 SEPT: Trinamool Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee is gearing up for the the crucial 2021 Assembly elections as she asked election strategist Prescient Kishor to find out the actual reasons in the ground reality that has led to a section of the party’s many foot-soldiers to have either gone inactive or joined BJP. TMC had hired Prashant Kishor after his noteworthy contribution in the general elections in 2019.
Kishor’s team I-PAC seems to have begun working on completing a ground-report. TMC is attempting to reconnect with all the ground-level party workers who have now joined hands with BJP in various blocks in several districts of West Bengal.
On Thursday , around 500 workers from BJP Jhargram, Binpur unit joined Trinamool Congress, and also 300 workers from Binpur 2 block in Jhargram also joined TMC from BJP.
According to district Trinamool Youth Congress president Avijit Dey Bhowmick, of Coochbehar II a section of these workers went to BJP after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. But they have realised the mistakes and returned to Trinamool Congress.
It started with Coochbehar where 100 BJP workers of Dhangdinguri area joined TMC. While TMC is focusing on the return of the turncoats who have now switched their allegiance to BJP, BJP’s West Bengal unit is counting on reaping the maximum benefit out of the increasing membership drive through running various social media campaigns.
Here is a tweet by All India Trinamool Congress on this regard
Primarily, BJP leaders in the state are focusing on Twitter to highlight how Mamata Banerjee-led TMC’s party workers are running a political party funded by public money. While TMC leaders seemingly focusing on only highlighting BJP’s personal scams by tweeting various illicit relationships that the BJP leaders are having in West Bengal.
Here is a tweet from Babul Supriyo highlighting how common people reacted to Mamata’s development program
TMC’s strategy to bring home lost soldiers
Earlier, BJP had won a majority of the Jungelmahal districts of Purulia, Bankura, Midnapore in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. While TMC had lost Midnapore and Bishnupur Lok Sabha seats. In North Bengal, the BJP had won seven out of eight districts in the Lok Sabha polls.
After Mamata Banerjee in her speech on the Martyr’s Day on July 21 issued a clarion call urging all her former party workers who had deserted her party to come back home. In the past two weeks, TMC has managed to plug the gap off defections in some pockets where the BJP has increased exponentially since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. BJP had won 18 of the state’s 42 seats.
Political analysts believe that following this debacle, the TMC has made this their main objective to cause a rift inside BJP by creating many instances of infighting within the party that would help TMC to gain back more of its lost workers.
And that is why Prashant Kishore’s team has been roped in to ensure defections. This has been done smoothly in some pockets where BJP rose increasingly.
“With the crucial 2021 elections ahead, while TMC will try to create more fraction within BJP, which will help TMC to get more workers in the ground level. BJP will highlight the drawbacks of Banerjee through social media. Only time can tell now how far they can achieve their respective goals,” said Imankalyan Lahiri, a senior political analyst and Professor of International Relations, Jadavpur University.