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By Rittick Mondal: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP and party’s general secretary Abhishek Banerjee will take out a statewide outreach campaign from April 25 where he will interact with citizens and accordingly decide the candidates for the upcoming panchayat polls due in West Bengal.
While addressing a press conference in Kolkata on Thursday, Abhishek Banerjee said, “I believe panchayats are the backbone of a society. People, and not party members sitting in a closed room, should decide the candidates.”
Talking about the outreach programme, Banerjee told reporters, “We will kickstart a new campaign ‘Trinamoole Naba Joyar’ (new wave in Trinamool) from April 25. The aim of the campaign is to build panchayats that will work for the people.”
There are 60,000 booths across the state. The TMC has decided to elect candidates for the upcoming panchayat elections after having discussions with citizens.
“We have divided the campaign into two parts–one is the ‘Jana Samyog Yatra’ and the second is ‘Gram Banglar Motamot’ (verdict of rural Bengal). I will start from Kolkata and reach Coochbehar on April 25. From there, we will head towards Kakdwip. I will not be returning to Kolkata for the next two months,” said Abhishek Banerjee.
Everyday, the TMC MP will start the Jana Sanjog Yatra at 10am and conduct four to five meetings a day. In the evening, he will return to the camp set up in the area and hold discussions that will be followed by secret ballots to finalize the candidates.
“We remember panchayat elections during CPIM’s days. There was a lot of bloodshed. We want peaceful elections,” said Abhishek Banerjee in a jibe at the Left rule.
He clarified that the yatra is going to be more about public participation. “We are not undertaking a padyatra like the one that Rahul Gandhi had taken out across the country (Bharata Jodo Yatra). This yatra is more about interacting with the public and deciding who do people want as their candidate in the upcoming polls,” said Abhishek Banerjee.
About the Election Commission stripping the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of its national party status, Abhishek Banerjee said that the party is exploring the possibility of moving court.
A political slugfest has ensued between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari over whether she had dialed Union Home Minister Amit Shah to retain the Trinamool Congress’s national party status.
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