Mamata Banerjee's Speech To Be Broadcast On Large Screens Across Tripura

Targeting the early 2023 Assembly election in Tripura, the Trinamool Congress is currently busy strengthening its grassroots in the state and launching its second innings here with virtual telecasting of a speech by its supremo Mamata Banarjee in giant screens across the state on coming July 21, a senior party leader told Outlook.

 “We are planning to telecast the speech of Didi (Mamata Banerjee) on giant screens across Tripura. In and around Agartala we shall put screens at Ker Chowmuhani, Badharghat and Gol Chakkar area where we have our party headquarters here,” said over phone Tripura TMC president – Ashish Lal Singh on Sunday from North Tripura district’s Kailashahar town where he is supposed to have a meeting with a senior Congress leader.

However, Singh feels that the ruling party of Tripura will surely misuse its administrative might and muscle power to stop the telecast of the virtual speech of the West Bengal CM.

“BJP has murdered democracy across the nation and Tripura has also not been spared," Singh said. "We know they shall try their best to stop Didi’s address reach the people of the state by not allowing the installation of giant screens with the excuse of the pandemic. They might even use ‘gundas’ (goons). But how can the BJP stop people from watching it on their smartphones? The event will be on social media from 2 PM on July 21.”       

The TMC observes July 21 as Martyrs' Day in remembrance of the 13 people who were killed in police firing in a rally of Youth Congress, of which Mamata Banerjee was a leader, in Kolkata in 1993 demanding. The victims had been demanding that voter identity cards be made the sole document required for voting to ensure free and fair elections. 

Tripura has been on Mamata’s radar for a long time. Before the 2018 assembly election, six Congress MLAs under the leadership of Sudip Roy Barman had joined the TMC but later joined the BJP, a fact that many consider being one of the reasons behind the party coming to power after 25 years of Communist rule here.

TMC is now again trying to make inroads into Tripura and immediately after victory in Bengal, Mamata has given her indication to take advantage of the growing anti-incumbency and inner fight amongst the local BJP leaders and MLAs. The situation has also alarmed BJP central leadership which jumped in for damage control.

After retaining victory in West Bengal against the BJP, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banarjee has given a clear message to expand her party across India and the next target will be BJP ruled Tripura where the majority section of the people are from the Bengali community with little more than 8 percent minority Muslim population.

 Recently, the TMC has also released a Tripura version of its Bengal election campaign song ‘Khela hobe, khela hobe’ in Tripura’s Bengali dialect. 

 There are also reports of TMC’s election strategist Prashant Kishor visiting Agartala and holding meetings at an undisclosed location in the Barjala area besides holding talks with the chief of a newly formed party at New Delhi recently.