Mamata protests alone, sends a message to BJP and Election Commission

Update: CM Mamata Banerjee ended her dharna at 3 pm.

She sat alone on a dharna in her wheelchair at the Gandhi Moorthi in Kolkata without any aides by her side, painting, and in a visibly sombre and reflective mood.

This striking image of feisty West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, on Tuesday seemed to be her party’s reinforcement of the perception of a ‘lone woman’, fighting the might of the BJP and taking on the Election Commission (EC) – all single handedly.

The last time Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna in central Kolkata was in February 2019, when she protested the CBI’s attempt to question Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar, saying she wanted to save the Constitution and democracy.

At that time, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders and aides were on the stage along with her as she continued with her dharna for three days till the Supreme Court barred the CBI from arresting Kumar. The ‘Fighter Didi’ image then seemed to add the ‘Victim Didi’ image during Tuesday’s dharna.

No party aide of Mamata Banerjee was by her side when she arrived around 11:45 am to sit alone on the dharna in her wheelchair on Tuesday, about 50 metres away from television cameras in what seemed a deliberate strategy by the TMC to gain maximum political mileage out of the 24-hour ban imposed on her by the EC and to show how a single woman CM is valiantly taking on her adversaries.

She only had three fans, her mobile phone, and her painting paraphernalia for company. TMC leader Derek O Brien briefly visited the media enclosure but did not offer any comments.

Mamata is expected to continue to sit at Gandhi Moorthi till 8 PM before proceeding for her two rallies tonight. TMC supporters came to the media enclosure to cheer up the CM and criticised the EC action as well as the BJP.

The TMC's entire campaign has focussed on Banerjee’s face and how her injury - with her on her wheelchair - has helped invoke sympathy among her core women voter base.

The Sitalkuchi killings and the latest 24-hour ban are being seen as a political lifeline for the party at a time when the BJP is claiming it is way ahead in the four phases that have polled so far.

While her injury may have restricted her USP of moving around on stage or walking into a village during the campaign, TMC has tried to make up with events like Tuesday, which are a substitute for a non-campaign day with the event being televised live widely.

Mamata will be escalating her campaign on Wednesday and visit Cooch Behar where five people lost their lives due to poll violence in Sitalkuchi.

The EC had stopped all political visits there for 72 hours, a period that ends tonight at 8 pm. The CM will go to the Marhbanga subdivision Hospital and later hold five rallies tomorrow in Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Nadia.

A BJP functionary, however, argued that the CM’s dharna will have little impact as she was deeply unpopular in the state and the sympathy card was not working, even after her injury and the wheelchair campaign.