With eyes firmly on Delhi, Mamata Banerjee starts poll campaign

KOLKATA: Her stupendous rise in Bengal politics may have created a platform for Mamata Banerjee to nurse national aspirations, but the chief minister on Tuesday said she didn't harbour illusions of being the "number one political party" (it takes time, she reasoned). Asserting that a "Federal Front" will come to power in Delhi and the Trinamool Congress will play a decisive role in national politics in days to come, Mamata said the BJP or the Congress won't have the numbers to sail through.
"Banglar disha, Bharater path, Banglai ghorabe abar Bharater bhobishyat," Mamata told a 15,000-strong South 24-Parganas party workers' conference in Pailan on Tuesday. Terming BJP-Congress-CPM as part of a "syndicate", she claimed Trinamool will fight against each of them and emerge as the winner. "We are not beggars. If we beg from anyone at all, it will be people. They will send Trinamool Congress to Delhi," she said. For that, it is imperative to win all seats in Bengal - and all five in South 24-Parganas. "Ke kar lok, kake pochondo, kake noy, esob ekhon bhabbar somoy noy. We have to defeat all of them. There is no place for complacency or over confidence. We have to give it our all," she told her party colleagues.
"I have noticed that some are chanting NaMo, NaMo even before the BJP has come to power. As days will pass, the arithmetic will become convoluted. They have minuscule presence in several states, including Bengal," she said. She claimed that "while the Congress represents corruption, the BJP is a communal party and the CPM plays destructive (anti-people) politics. We have to fight against communalism. The so-called Third Front is an opportunistic alliance and will bring only instability. We want poribartan in Delhi. We want a people's government and not a typical political government that will increase gas, petrol prices and of other essentials after winning the elections."
In her first campaign meeting, Mamata was at her combative best, even taking potshots at the poll process. "These elections are long drawn a process. In spite of better infrastructure these days, elections now take more time. Take for example Bengal. For the first time, three districts - Burdwan, Malda and Murshidabad - each with three seats each will have polls over two days. I am not criticizing but only stating facts. Now the election code of conduct has come in vogue. I go to office and feel frustrated, there is nothing to do. With successive elections (panchayat polls and now the Lok Sabha polls), these code of conduct has lasted over a year. So effectively the constitutional mandate for a five-year governance is being reduced to four," she said.
"For everything, a complaint is being lodged against us. But let me say this to all, as long as complaints are being made, we know we are right. The day we get a certificate from the opposition, we will know we are wrong," she told amid thunderous applause.
Having said so, Mamata also took a dig at Anna Hazare reportedly praising her but not Trinamool Congress. "Keu keu bolche Mamata bhalo, dol noy. Mamata kokhono bhalo thakto na jodi na Trinamool Congress thakto. Etai Mamata'r shristi," she said. She was confident that the Trinamool will become a national party after the elections. "We have presence in three states at present. After the elections, we will have representation in at least four states, thus entitling us to become a national party."
In an effort to reach out to people from varied background and nurse her national ambitions, Mamata attended a Holi get-together organized by the International Marwari Federation at a South Kolkata club later in the day. During her hour-long stay there, she iterated that Marwaris form an integral part of Kolkata. "You are more Bengalis than some of us," she said at the event, which was attended by top industrialists like Ambuja Neotia Group chairman Harsh Neotia, Emami Group vice-chairman R S Goenka, Emami MD Sushil Goenka, Patton MD Sanjay Budhia and chairman H P Budhia, Keventer Group chairman M K Jalan and MD Mayank Jalan, Linc Pen MD Deepak Jalan, Sharachi Group director Ravi Todi, South City director Pradip Surekha and former Credai president Santosh Rungta.
"The meeting was very reassuring. Mamatadi has said that whatever good in Rajasthan can be adopted in Bengal. This was really nice," said Budhia. Emami MD Sushil Goenka was happy with her gesture. "She is an exceptional lady. She knows how to win hearts. We all enjoyed the get-together because of her," he said . Harsh Neotia added: "The way she praised the role of Marwari community has made us proud. We always felt that we are a part of Bengal."
Professor Sugato Bose found an element of history in Mamata's meeting on Tuesday. "This is historic. It is 70 years since Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose gave a chalo dilli call. Mamata Banerjee is now leading a battle for Delhi with her call - chalo Delhi, chalo Bharat gari. It is also 30 years since, Mamata Banerjee had won the Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat in 1984," he said. Bose, a Harvard history professor, also chose to quote Netaji in saying, "the roads to Delhi are many, but Delhi remains my goal."