Mamata Banerjee is campaigning extensively across West Bengal for the ongoing Assembly elections.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will, for the first time ever, chat live on Facebook on Wednesday at 8:30 pm.
"Didi is coming online !" the announcement on her Facebook wall said. "Get ready for the first ever live Facebook chat with Mamata Banerjee herself."
The Trinamool chief, campaigning extensively across West Bengal for the ongoing Assembly elections, will be online or 30 minutes, officially. But the session may extend to an hour, according to sources.
Posted around 8 pm Monday evening on Mamata Banerjee's Facebook page, the announcement had 272 comments, 445 shares and 4.4K likes, within the hour.
Most of the comments are from excited admirers.
"Oh..!!! ! Excellent step by our CM Mamata Banerjee...I salute to didi," said Dulal Roy.
Prabir Dhara said, "Didi apni ato parishram korchhen.Rest nen kokhan? (Didi you are working so hard. When do you take rest?)"
"Namskar Didi, we are all proud to get you as our CM, now it is a request that you please take care about industrialization of Bengal," commented Soumya Chatterjee.
And then are some that are tongue in cheek.
"Tell me Miss Banerjee...if I ask you some pointed questions jeta te apni uncomfortable feel korte paren....will I be then branded as a Maoist or some kind of criminal?" questioned Dibyojyoti Mukherjee.
The word is out on Twitter as well. There, too, are great responses, including one from a parody account of the US president, Barack Obama.
Given that Ms Banerjee has cut down on the number of interviews with the media, this is one online chat that is sure to draw huge crowds.
"Whether a padayatra, a street corner meet... or a rally of five lakh, Didi is a great communicator. So why not Facebook?" said Trinamool lawmaker Derek O'Brien, who also pointed out that the question and answer session online will be the first by any chief minister.
All political parties are using social media extensively in this election season. But a live online chat with Mamata Banerjee is certainly a step ahead of its times.