Trinamool Congress's Madan Mitra was greeted with "Jai Shri Ram" slogans at a roadshow.
The slogan that stopped Mamata Banerjee in her tracks on Saturday has turned into a weapon of sorts for BJP supporters against the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and it is being widely used on terra firma and in the virtual space.
On Saturday, Mamata Banerjee had jumped out of her car at Chandra Kona when a group of people waved BJP flags as her convoy went past and shouted "Jai Shri Ram", a slogan favoured by the BJP and used in their daily life as a greeting. Ms Banerjee had tried to confront the slogan shouters but they fled.
At Bhatpara in North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday, Trinamool Congress's Madan Mitra faced a similar situation. Once a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, Mr Mitra is now contesting the Bhatpara assembly seat in the May 19 by-election. He was on a road show when he was greeted with shouts of "Jai Shri Ram" by people lining the streets in Kakinada area.
People also shouted "Madan Mitra go back" and chanted "Modi Modi Modi."
Mr Mitra, who was accompanied by actors Shakti Kapoor and Rani Chakraborty on the roadshow, did not appear to take the slogan shouting seriously.
On bail after he was arrested for alleged links to the Saradha chit fund scam, Mr Mitra said, "They are shouting 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans now. But on polling day, they will vote for me and against the dynasty rule the BJP is trying to foist on Bhatpara".
Arjun Singh was the Trinamool Congress legislator from the Bhatpara assembly seat till he vacated it to join the BJP to become its candidate for the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat. Mr Mitra's referred to dynastic politics because Arjun Singh's son Pawan was named the BJP candidate for Bhatpara, an assembly segment in Barrackpore.
The slogan has pitted Mamata Banerjee against both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.
PM Modi attacked her at a rally on Monday saying, "Didi is arresting people who said 'Jai Shri Ram' and putting them in jail." However, no one was arrested for shouting the slogans. Four or five locals were questioned by the police and let off.
On Tuesday, Amit Shah said, "If people don't raise the 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan in India, then will they go raise the slogan in Pakistan?"
Mamata Banerjee retorted, "The BJP has turned Ram into their polling agent. They use him every time elections come round. But they can't build him a temple in five years."
"No BJP slogans will pass my lips till my dying day. We will chant our own slogans like 'Jai Hind' and 'Vande Mataram'. On Durga Puja, we will chant 'Durga Ma Ki Jai', 'Aaschey Bochor Abar Hobay (Until next year)'. On Ganesh Chaturthi, we chant 'Ganpati Bappa Morya'. We respect all religions all cultures but not what BJP dictates," she said.
On Facebook and Twitter, people have been posting the three-word slogan to mock the Trinamool Congress. When Mamata Banerjee's speeches are streamed live online, many people type "Jai Shri Ram" in the comments section.