WB CM Mamata makes surprise detour to Tribal village, cooks vegetables, drinks tea; WATCH

In an attempt to woo voters in the tribal regions of Birbhum district, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday took a detour and made a surprise visit to a tribal village. CM Banerjee joined in cooking vegetables along with Tribal women and assured that the problems faced by them will be solved. Banerjee's tour to Birbhum came within days of ex-BJP president Amit Shah's two-day visit to the district.

During the two-day visit, Mamata Banerjee was seen sharing the stage with the same Baul singer who sang for Shah and she held a rally on the same street where Shah's rally took place. The ruling TMC had suffered erosion in tribal support in Jangalmahal area comprising Jhargram, West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts and suffered electoral reverses in 2019 Lok Sabha polls in the tribal belts of the state.

CM Banerjee made a sudden detour and entered the tribal village while returning to Kolkata wrapping up a two-day visit to Bolpur in Birbhum district. Banerjee helped a tribal woman Rama Bagdi in cooking vegetables and had tea at the adjacent stall of Babu Bagdi. She then offered prayers to the deity of the tribals nearby. "Consider me as a daughter of your house. Tell me about your problems. Have you been to the 'Duare Sarkar' (government at the doorstep) camp? Do you have the Swasthya Sathi (cashless health scheme) card?," Banerjee asked the villagers. When the problem of no toilets was raised by the Tribal women, CM Banerjee told the accompanying district officials to construct toilets in every dwelling unit in the area.

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Her visit to the tribal village, located near Sonajhuri haat in Santiniketan, evoked derision by BJP national general secretary and Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya, who said the chief minister's sudden visit to the tribal village was nothing but a "drama"

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Mamata's Birbhum visit

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata during her two-day visit held a mega roadshow in Birbhum district's Bolpur city. The campaign in the Bolpur area has revolved largely around Tribals and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. While TMC has claimed twice that BJP leaders including Amit Shah have misquoted Tagore and that they have not read Gurudev's work on secularism, the ex-BJP chief visited Visva Bharati, reminded the ideals of Tagore and PM Modi even addressed the Centenary celebration of the University. 

Moreover, both TMC and BJP are trying their best to show their ground presence and their connect to the tradition of various part of Bengal. In Birbhum, where Baul is an important folk tradition, Home Minister Shah has luncheon at Baul singer Basudeb Das Baul's home and enjoyed his performance. TMC too called the same singer for Mamata's rally.

READ | CM Mamata Shares Stage With Baul Singer Basudeb After Amit Shah's Lunch At His Home; WATCH

West Bengal assembly elections

West Bengal assembly with 294 seats will go to polls in April-May 2021, Trinamool holds 222 seats. BJP has made major inroads in the state in the Lok Sabha elections winning 18 seats and establishing itself as the major Opposition force in the state. Recently TMC trumped BJP in all 3 bypolls but the BJP is using its booth-level strategy, has placed its top leaders including Amit Shah and JP Nadda in the state for winning the upcoming elections.

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