Mamata Banerjee woos voters with Big B, Ghulam Ali & business promise

KOLKATA: Sixty-year-old Sobi Begum doesn't know who Derek O'Brien is. She has never heard about the Narada sting operation. All she knows is that her Collin Street neighbourhood, where Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee held an election meeting on Monday afternoon, has got white-blue street lights and water sufficient supply to wash clothes.
Domestic help Sobi and her friend, Nargis Bano, blissfully unaware of the matters that have become a cause for worry for Trinamool, broke into a smile when their Didi thundered out Amitabh Bachchan's famous dialogue from ` Ajooba': “Muddayee laakh boora chahen to kya hota hai, wohee hota hai jo manzoor-e-khuda hota hai.“
Talking about detractors, she also belted out Danny Denzongpa's `Khuda Gawah' dialogue: “Fanoos banke hifazat jis ki hawa kare Woh shamaa kya bhuje jisko roshan khuda kare.“ Floored by Didi's charm, both Sobi and Nargis have vouched to vote in Mamata's favour on April 30.
If allegations of her ministers being involved in scams, the morphed picture row and violence during polls are making her uneasy , she didn't show any sign of it at the two consecutive meetings she held at Collin Street and then at Maharana Pratap Udayan near Shakespeare Sarani on Monday afternoon. She liberally garnished her speeches with Amitabh's dialogue and Ghulam Ali's concert, making sure her words were selected differently , focusing on the core interest areas of her voters.
At Collin Street, it was the minority card that came handy .Promises delivered regarding reservations and reports on how Bengal is the safest state for Muslims living in India were emphasised. When Mama ta's Bengal had played a perfect host to ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali, many had predicted that she would use this issue to win the minority votes. Mamata lived up to that prediction at the Collin Street meeting and won the brownie points for being the only state to have hosted the Indo-Pak match. Unlike other states, riots don't erupt in Bengal, a state that maintains communal harmony and cele brates festivals of all religions without any problems, she pointed out. BJP's accusation that bombs were illegally made in Bengal was also brought up.
Residents of Syed Ismail Lane erupted in praise as Banerjee played the coy `daughter' who felt a tad shy doing `binti' for votes from `ghar ke admi'. She didn't forget to mention how she dropped by at Ramazan or visited the area du ring Eid. Local resident Sheikh Taslim was impressed: “Can you see that egg shop there? Didi sits there and meets people.Everyone likes her.“ Businessman Sanjay Rasaily said, “Corruption is no issue as every party wants money . Besides, Bengal has no alternative.“
Opponents were dismissed as `basanter kokil' though Trinamool was here to stay . Harping on how CPM, Congress and BJP were working in connivance, Mamata drew attention to these parties were even lodging similar complaints.According to her, the CPM has vanished completely . Once the polls were over, the alliance would disappear. BJP would be packed off to Delhi till 2019 when the Trinamool would give them a tough fight at the Centre, she claimed. A lone poster of alliance's Deepa Das Munshi peaked from the wall behind Mamata's stage. Seated on a chair was 60-year-old Mustari Biwi. Has she heard of Deepa Das Munshi? “No. Kayum bhai is there as the president of 63 ward. He takes care of everything,“ Mustari said.
The Opposition was demolished even at the Maharana lished even at the Maharana Pratap Udayan meeting. But instead of the Ghulam Ali show or Indo-Pak match, Mamata pulled the cosmopolitan card, stressing on how the 28 communities of that locality were “hamara se bhi beshi Bengali (more Bengali than us)“. She wanted their names on a list for a meet-and-greet.“Gujaratis will get dhokla, Punjabis will get halua, Christians will bake cake, Marwaris will get daal bati churma and everyone will have phuckas,“ Mamata said. Those who were engaging in anti-whisper campaign were warned that she “doesn't need any mediators to meet traders“. Most impor tantly , she is anti-bandh. The businessmen grinned, assured of Mamata's win.
Seated in the crowd was 30 something Amaresh Mondal, clad in traditional mourning clothes. Mondal lost his mother last Sunday. “Maa's sradh is on April 29. The next day ,I will serve as a TMC polling agent,“ said Mondal, who has been working as a contractual gardener at KMC for 16 years with the hope of getting a permanent job. But isn't 16 years been too long a time to test his loyalty by attending a meeting in mourning? He agreed knowing that if he didn't give his service, he might `end up losing' the little he has.
Spotted on Theatre Road was a group of women from Jain Terapanthi Mahila Mandal.Rashmi Sethiam, president of their Alipore brand, said, “Nobody is satisfied with Mamata.But the scams won't affect the polls. The rural electorate will still vote for her.“