With an eye on women voters and to sharpen its ‘outsider’ charge against the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal launched its main campaign slogan --- ‘Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chay’ – ahead of the crucial assembly polls.
“The poll bugle has been sounded and this time we will reach out to the people with the slogan ‘Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chay’ (Bengal only wants its own daughter),” said Subrata Bakshi, general secretary of TMC.
Political analysts said that the makeover of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee from didi (elder sister) to Nijer Meye (own daughter) was aimed at strengthening the special bond which Banerjee shares with women voters.
“Women voters have always had a special connect with Mamata Banerjee. The TMC wants to utilize this as the party and its poll strategist Prashant Kishore thinks that women voters could be game changers in this election. So in a bid to further boost this connection they have made a changeover. From Didi to Nijer Meye (own daughter),” said Biswanath Chakraborty,
West Bengal has around 3.73 crore male voters, while there are around 3.59 crore female voters in the state. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the participation rate of women voters in Bengal was as high as 81.7%.
{{/usCountry}}West Bengal has around 3.73 crore male voters, while there are around 3.59 crore female voters in the state. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the participation rate of women voters in Bengal was as high as 81.7%.
{{/usCountry}}“Every person of Bengal trusts his/her daughter. Under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, Bengal’s culture has been protected. She won’t allow misogynists to attack the culture of Bengal,” said Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, TMC MP.
Women empowerment has always been a core segment of the Mamata Banerjee government’s development issues since it assumed power. This is exemplified by the dozens of welfare schemes that have been rolled out by the government including the Kanyashree scheme which aims at promoting education and prevent child marriages by using cash incentives.
“The natural explanation is that while on the one hand the TMC wants to target women voters, it also wants to implicitly brand the BJP as an outsider saying that Bengal would want only its own daughter. But in the slogan we can also see a makeover of Banerjee from Didi to Bengal’s own daughter. Possibly the party’s poll strategists want to strike a chord with the Bengali Hindus, who accept Goddess Durga more as a daughter than a mother,” said Subhamoy Maitra, political analyst.
One of the main poll planks of the TMC is to brand its principal rival, the BJP, as an outsider in the state, while trying to boost its own connect with the voters. The BJP, however, has hit back.
“Bengal wants peace, prosperity and unity. It doesn’t want cruelty,” said Jay Prakash Majumdar, BJP’s state vice president.