Mamata campaigns in Chetla; BJP playing communal card, says TMC

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate from Bhowanipore Mamata Banerjee took part in a campaign programme at Chetla on Tuesday.

Banerjee went to Chetla in the morning and talked to local residents.

The Trinamool Congress supremo knows the organisers of the social club by name and spent some time with them.

Senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim was present during the campaign. Ward 82 had given Trinamool Congress a lead of more than 6000 votes in the Assembly election.

Unable to face the huge development that has been carried out in Bhowanipore, BJP is playing communal card with a hope to do well in the by-election.

BJP has uploaded a slogan "Bhowanipore ke Khidderpore banate deben na" (Don't allow Bhowanipore to become Khidderpore) on social media.

Bhowanipore is home to people belonging to different religions, culture and social background.

The Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs have lived together in Bhowanipore for generations happily and peacefully.

There are Hindu temples, gurdwaras, mosques, churches, Jain temples in the area, said Debashis Kumar, president, Trinamool Congress, south Kolkata.

In the areas surrounding Khidderpore the Muslims and the Hindus have lived together for generations. By resorting to such a slogan, BJP has hinted at Muslim appeasement and propagated its age old theory that the Muslims would finally take over all the wards in Bhowanipore.

Debashis Kumar said: "The slogan shows the political bankruptcy of BJP. They do not have any ideology and survive on letting loose one community against the

other.

In 2021, the people of Bengal had driven out the communal and divisive BJP, but the saffron party is so shameless that it is trying the same nasty tactics once again," he said adding, "BJP is such a party that it will never talk about the development carried out by the Centre. It gives false statistics and speaks more lies than

truth."

TMC is carrying out an intense campaign in wards 70 and 74, where the party had trailed behind the BJP in the 2021 Assembly election by 2000 votes and 537 votes respectively. Debashis Kumar is in-charge of ward 70.

Trinamool has laid emphasis on door-to-door campaigns and street corners to canvas for Mamata

Banerjee.