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‘Bengal wants its daughter not an aunt,’ says BJP in a dig at TMC’s poll slogan
Earlier this month, the TMC had launched its campaign slogan - ‘Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chay’ – with an eye on women voters.
The Bharatiya Janata Party took a swipe at the Trinamool Congress’s main campaign slogan ‘Bengal wants its own daughter’ while attacking TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s new daughter-image saying that Bengal wants its own daughter and not Pishi (aunt).
Trying to engage the TMC in a poster-war, the BJP on Saturday released a poster featuring nine of its prominent women leaders. The poster read: “Bangla tar meyekei chay, pishi ke noy” which translates into Bengal wants its own daughter and not pishi.
Earlier this month, the TMC had launched its campaign slogan - ‘Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chay’ – with an eye on women voters. Political analysts had said that the makeover of the TMC chief from didi (elder sister) to Nijer Meye (own daughter) was aimed at strengthening the special bond which Banerjee shares with women voters.
West Bengal has around 3.73 crore male voters, while around 3.59 crore are female voters. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the participation rate of women voters in Bengal was as high as 81.7%.
The BJP’s top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda, have been sharpening their attack against Mamata Banerjee and her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee often referring to them to as Pishi –Bhaipo (Aunt-Nephew).
TMC leaders meanwhile have worked at making the slogan more popular. On Saturday Abhishek Banerjee could be seen raising the TMC slogan ‘Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chay’, while posters and hoardings have been installed across West Bengal to make the slogan more popular ahead of the polls.
“Do the women leaders who BJP has featured, have any following? Bengal knows only one leader and that is Mamata Banerjee. She is didi and may be mother, daughter or sister to some. A woman has many forms. One of the woman leaders featured in the BJP’s poster once called Mamata Banerjee a mother. This is distasteful campaign,” said Kunal Ghosh, TMC’s spokesperson.
Over the past few years, the BJP has emerged as the TMC’s main rival. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party won 40% of the vote share and 18 of the 42 seats in the state. The TMC won 43% of the vote share and 22 seats.
The Election Commission of India has already announced the poll schedule which kicks off on March 27 and will be conducted in eight phases. The BJP has set a target of winning more than 200 of the 294 assembly seats in the state.
