TMC candidate Shatrughan Sinha at a roadshow in Asansol on Thursday. (Partha Paul) A large gathering of people, mostly women, standing near Asansol’s Ismail Crossing area pointed their smartphones in the direction of an open black jeep the moment it was announced that the rally will begin in a few minutes.
And within minutes, they all started taking photographs of Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate and yesteryear’s Bollywood star Shatrughan Sinha (75) as he waved from his vehicle at an excited crowd.
This is the scene of Sinha’s election rally on Friday for the upcoming Asansol Lok Sabha bypoll that will be held on April 12.
βI am honoured by such a reaction from the people. This gives me a clear indication that we are set for a historic win in Asansol,” said the former BJP Union minister.
Led by a group of dhakis (traditional drummers) and women workers of the TMC, the roadshow took a lot of time to cover just 1km distance through a narrow lane.
Accompanied by state minister and senior party leader Moloy Ghatak, the TMC candidate, who earlier went to Rabindra Bhawan to attend a TMC workers’ meet, showed no sign of weariness as he shook hands with supporters and fans on a hot April day.
Subhas Pramanik (64), a local resident, said, βIn our youth we watched so many of his films in cinema halls at Asansol. I watched Kalaa Patthar (1979) which was shot in a nearby coal mine and have been his fan since.”
Addressing the workers, Sinha slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly disrespecting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the West Bengal Assembly polls last year.
“When a tigress gets wounded, she becomes very dangerous. That’s what happened to Mamata ji last year. She was injured but she still did such a ‘khela’ on from wheelchair (sport) that the Opposition was completely destroyed,” said Sinha amid a thunderous applause.
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