Kolkata: From JD (U) to Trinamool Congress (TMC), political advisor Prashant Kishore is now looking to weave his magic ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections. The upcoming civic polls to 100 municipal corporations and municipalities next month are also a big focus for Kishor which prompted Mamata to launch the 'Banglar Garv Mamata' or Bengal is proud of Mamata initiative on Monday. The initiative was launched in front of a huge crowd of her party workers on Monday while launching a scathing attack on BJP and Union Home Minister Amit Shah who held a pro-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rally here on Sunday.
After the 'Didi ke bolo' outreach programme which was initiated by Kishor, the latest programme hopes to strengthen the TMC voter base. During the launch, while mentioning names of other party leaders, Prashant Kishor's name too was mentioned. In an attempt to protect the interests of the TMC, Kishor's team used technology to their advantage and came up with bar codes for TMC leaders and workers who were invited for Monday's meeting. Only after scanning the code were invitees allowed at the venue.
In the front seat were seated popular actors-turned-MPs Nushrat Jahan, Mimi Chakraborty and Dev along with youth leaders, while senior leaders of TMC were seated in the rows behind them. The 'Banglar Garv Didi' programme is modelled on a door-to-door campaign where one lakh TMC workers will go to every house across 7000 villagers to explain the kind of work Mamata has done.
In the meeting at the Trinamool Bhavan on Tuesday to address councillors ahead of the civic polls, Kishor was also present and was seated next Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee. Abhishek Banerjee indirectly told party workers that they should be loyal to TMC and work in the best interest of the party instead of being in touch with the BJP and stabbing TMC in the back. Kishor also asked all councillors present to prepare for the upcoming civic elections.
Sources say that Mamata is looking to send Kishor to the Rajya Sabha as a TMC MP, however Kishor has always expressed interest in working from the outside.
