Just ahead of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls on 19 December, most parties are executing campaigns where candidates are also visiting religious institutions but the Left Front took a call to stand out as one of their candidates today began his campaign by visiting Netaji Bhavan to pay respects to the freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose.
The 2021 Bengal assembly elections had gathered heat surrounding a debate that emerged from an event in Victoria Memorial held in observance of Netaji’s 125 birth anniversary. The event was attended both by the chief minister and Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi but for the former, the experience turned out to be bitter as BJP slogans were hurled from the audience that led Mamata to register her protest by cutting her speech short.
Time and again historical figures have featured in political campaigns and likewise drew mixed reactions from the public but so have the occasions where politicians visited religious institutions to gain political mileage ahead of polls, said a political analyst, requesting anonymity. Polarisation on the basis of religion was criticized by Congress and the CPIM.
The Left Front sought to give out a positive message as its candidate for ward 70 in Bhawanipore, Barun Das today began his campaign after a visit to the Netaji Bhavan. He paid his respects to the freedom fighter before filing his nomination as the candidate. This is also being termed as a move by the Left to increase their winning chances in Bhawanipore where the TMC had a lead in Assembly polls from most wards.
In 2015 KMC polls, ward 70 was won by a BJP candidate Asim Bose who later jumped ships to TMC. This year, Bose has been again fielded from the ward. Trinamul sources said the party was content with his effort in ensuring Trinamul’s winning margin in Bhawanipore.