What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
NEW DELHI: The next Lok Sabha elections are still two years away but Trinamool Congress (TMC) appeared to have thrown the hat for its supremo Mamata Banerjee as the next Prime Minister of India.
To put TMC in a pan India role in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the party had launched a campaign in the form of a website with the tagline ‘India wants Mamata Di’.
The campaign line reflects its tailored line, ‘Bangla Nijer Meyeke Chay’ (or Bengal Wants Its Own Daughter), in the 2021 state assembly poll that became a massive hit after ‘khela hobe.’
“We wish every Indian enjoys the good governance, as has been established by Madam Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee through her pro-people policies with the aim of holistic development, by making her the first-ever Bengali Prime Minister of the Union of India in 2024 when she completes four decades in electoral politics,” the newly launched website states.
It is to be noted that with the launch of the campaign TMC’s next immediate step is to extend the party throughout the country.
Sougata Roy, MP, TMC while speaking to The New Indian said, “We all welcome the campaign. This is the position of the Trinamool Congress. We feel that to remove BJP it is necessary to get all the opposition parties together. It goes without saying that Mamata Banerjee is the most recognisable face of the opposition, hence our party has launched this campaign. Lok Sabha election is two years away and we are very much hopeful, why won’t we?”
Out of 294 seats, TMC bagged 213 during the state assembly poll after which the party aimed for making inroads in other poll-bound states in 2022, however, the results did not bear any fruit and TMC failed enormously both in Goa and Tripura.
However, BJP’s Bengal wing questions TMC’s campaign. Dilip Ghosh, MP from Bengal and national vice president said, “If things are like what they are stating why did she lose the election? She lost the election and became the CM without becoming the MLA. She had to re-contest from Bhawanipur to win. TMC also contested from outside Bengal but could they win? TMC is not being accepted anywhere, people have understood the buzz is only on social media.”
Even though TMC stands tall for opposition unity, the party’s relationship with Congress seems to have strained bit by bit. Other political parties in opposition believe that Congress played an important part in the formation of the opposition.
Congress, on numerous occasions, has downplayed its leaders leaving the grand old party to join TMC, while TMC then states that they cannot stop anybody from joining the party.
Senior Congress leader and MP Pradip Bhattacharya told The New Indian, “How can she, being a CM of a state, say that India wants her? There are other chief ministers as well. I don’t think it is realistic unless there is a single unity of all opposition parties. TMC’s spell is confined only to Bengal. Publicity, popularity is one thing and getting a vote is completely different. Her position in Bengal is undoubtedly stable but outside Bengal, it is between 0.1 to minus zero.”
In 2022, BJP won Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa which jolted the opposition parties who were tagging along to take on BJP.
Asish Lahiri, a political analyst from Bengal, said, “TMC’s previous tagline ‘Bangla nijer meyekei chae’ clicked. What BJP aspired for during the state election was dusted off. It is also to be noted that the Left Front’s rate of revival is slow like a snail. TMC has no strong opposition here in Bengal. However, the national scenario is different. Mamata Banerjee indeed developed an image and value due to her anti-BJP stands. She might be playing a role in consolidating anti-BJP stance but how much it will be reflected in electoral politics, I have doubt. As an analyst, I don’t think the line ‘IWMD’ will push a strong message outside Bengal.”
