Kolkata: In a bid to ensure transparency in the selection of candidates and test the waters before the Panchayat polls in the state, Trinamool Congress’s new campaign ‘Trinamool-a-Naba Jowar’ (New Wave in TMC), led by its national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, will give the voters in Panchayat areas an opportunity to choose their candidates through a secret ballot.
Laying out the blueprint for the campaign that will start on April 25 and aim to cover about 60,000 rural booths in Bengal, Abhishek Banerjee announced on Thursday that it will be divided into two parts – ‘Jana Sanjog Yatra’ and ‘Gram Banglar Motamot’.
He said his 60-day yatra will begin from hills in North Bengal and end at Sagar in South 24-Parganas, covering a total of over 35,00 km.
During this, he said he will want to meet as many voters as he can from the Panchayat areas. Highlighting his schedule during the rally, he said he will start at 10 am and thereafter hold at least four to five public meetings from noon to evening.
Citing an example of how he plans to cover so many Panchayats, Abhishek said he is leaving on April 24 for Cooch Behar where there are 128 Panchayats. He said he will go to Dinhata first and then to Mathabhanga, meeting people from 64 Panchayats.
However, Abhishek highlighted that a crucial part of the campaign will be in the evening when he will return to the camp and then hold meetings with all booth-level workers and members of Gram Panchayat, Zilla Parishad, and Gram Samiti. This congregation will also include social workers in rural areas. Here, he said that opportunity will be provided to choose who the people want to see as their candidate in the upcoming Panchayat elections. This will be conducted under ‘Gram Banglar Motamot’.
Allaying fears of being harassed by local leaders, Abhishek said this is exactly the reason why it will be a secret ballot where people can give their votes with
complete anonymity.
“No name, address, phone number or signature will be required” he assured. He also highlighted that in case people are not able to come in person for the secret ballot, a website is being launched from April 25 where the same provision will be made available.
He termed this campaign as a first-of-its-kind initiative in Bengal. “This is an opportunity we are giving to the people so they can choose who they want as their candidates so for the rest of the year they need not have to run to MLAs or other ZP leaders to convey their grievances,” he highlighted.
Abhishek sought to highlight that one of the main intentions behind this campaign is also to ensure peaceful polls and decentralisation of power. He said that no one will be able to exercise their political clout to become a candidate in the Panchayat polls. “It is the people who will choose their candidates and accordingly the party’s top leaders will decide about giving tickets,” he pointed out.
He later tweeted: “Breaking the closed doors of power, we’ve stayed true to our ethos of Ma-Mati-Manush. With Hon’ble Chairperson @MamataOfficial as my inspiration, I’ve launched #TrinamooleNaboJowar, a campaign envisioned to usher in a new wave of progress & development at the grassroots. Advancing #TrinamooleNaboJowar, I will embark on a two-month Jono Sanjog Yatra, connecting with people across Bengal. We will also take representative democracy one step ahead by asking people, through Gram Banglar Motamot, to recommend their preferred PRI candidates.”