KOLKATA: With an eye on the 2021 state poll, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will launch a new mass outreach campaign later this month to reach out to the people with the policies and developmental work of TMC government in the last ten years, party sources said on Wednesday.
The campaign, like the others launched by the party before, is a brainchild of poll strategist Prashant Kishor and his I-PAC team, they said.
Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, will launch the programme which will cover all the 78,908 booths of the state and is likely to be called 'Bnagodhawni' (Voice of Bengal), they said.
"Our cadres and party leaders will fan out in their respective areas and districts and conduct door-door campaign about the developmental work done by the party and its polices. The party workers will also listen to the grievances of the people and will try to address them," said a senior TMC leader.
The new outreach programme will be more of taking feedback from the masses and assessing the ground level situation, said another leader.
"Not just TMC leaders and workers, members of the I-PAC team too will accompany party leaders during the month- long programme. Senior ministers and party leaders will take part in the programme in various parts of the state.
"Apart from the door-to-door programme, there will be small meetings with the locals and influential people of the area," he said.
Election to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly are due in April-May next year.
The TMC has already launched 'Taphashilir Sanlap' (Discussion with SC community) a grassroots outreach campaign aimed at reaching out to the scheduled caste community of West Bengal and sensitizing them to the perils of the BJP's allged "anti-Dalit ideology and policies".
The campaign is being conducted in two phases and entails more than 2,000 grassroots leaders of AITC reaching out to approximately 1.05 crore people of the SC/ST community through targeted 10,000 plus rural habitation visits across the state.
It involves door-to-door visits, interaction with key community leaders of the area and engagement with the locals. The campaign aims to facilitate better connect, initiate more conversations with the community and understand their aspirations.
The party had conducted two mass outreach programmes 'Didi Ke Bolo' (Tell Didi) and 'Banglar Gorbo Mamata' (Didi the pride of Bengal) designed by Kishor earlier.
BJP, which has never been in power in the politically polarised state, has made deep inroads specially in SC/ST dominated areas of tribal Jangalmahal district of south Bengal and in north Bengal.
Out of the 18 seats won by the saffron party in West Bengal in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls 12 are from the SC/ST dominated areas.
It has emerged as the main rival of the ruling Trinamool Congress by winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats. With BJP's strength increasing in the state in the past few years, party leaders have exuded confidence that it will be able to dislodge the TMC and end Banerjee's 10-year-long rule in the assembly election.