KOLKATA: Armed with the alleged gangrape and murder of a teenager in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, the ruling Trinamool Congress leaders belong to other backward class (OBC) category are carrying out large-scale campaigns in Dalit dominated villages in Junglemahal at the behest of the party supremo Mamata Banerjee.
Series of rallies and street corners are being staged in the state’s backward region to highlight Dalits’ alleged plights in the BJP-ruled state like Uttar Pradesh.
"We are organizing the campaigns in Dalit pockets under the chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s instruction. The initiative started seven days ago and it will continue. Our main goal is to make the Dalit electorates in the area to understand what their fate will be in West Bengal if the BJP comes to power here," said Churamani Mahato, the TMC MLA from Gopiballavpur in Jhargram district.
Sources in the TMC said the party did not want to miss the opportunity to use Hathras incident as its tool to unleash attack on the BJP to bring back Dalit electorates in its fold.
The Junglemahal, comprising Jhargram, Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore districts, has a considerable chunk of Dalit inhabitants who form more than 40 percent of the total electorates in the region.
"We need to launch aggressive campaigns using Hathras episode in the backward region. We were whitewashed by the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the saffron camp bagged all five Lok Sabha seats from the area. Other than showcasing development issues, we should not leave no stone unturned to use the Uttar Pradesh incident in an attempt to secure electoral dividend in next year’s election from Dalits dominated pockets,"said a senior TMC minister
Echoing same, Shantiram Mahato, the TMC MLA in Purulia district, said the party workers are visiting remote villages located in dense forests and giving a clear picture of Dalits’ fate if the BJP topples the ruling party.
"The response from the poor scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people is very satisfactory. Despite carrying out a slew of development works, we received a massive jolt in all these pockets in last year’s general elections. We are desperate to regain our strongholds," he said.