West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee addresses an election rally in Malda district on Wednesday. (PTI Photo)
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee kicked off her election campaign for the West Bengal assembly with a public rally at Malda on Wednesday.
The most startling thing about the rally was the thin crowds at a stadium that accommodates up to 40,000 people. Many had been waiting from 2 pm; Ms Banerjee arrived around 4 pm. When she began to speak, some people got up and left.
The other startling factor was the amount of time Ms Banerjee spent in attacking the Left and the Congress tie up that is still being hammered out.
"It is an unholy, unprincipled alliance that is sure to fail," she said.
Ms Banerjee addressed Congress supporters and said, "How can you support the same CPM that chopped off the hands of Congress voters simply because they had not voted for the Left."
In Malda, political analysts say the alliance will impact the Trinamool fortunes. In 2011, the party got one out of 12 seats. Later, four other legislators from rival parties joined the Trinamool in last five years. So at the moment, the breakup in Malda is five to the Congress, five to the Trinamool and two to the Left. Analysts say the Trinamool may find it difficult to hold on to all those five seats because of the alliance.
Many had wondered what Ms Banerjee would say about Kaliachak - the incident on January 3, about an hour's drive from Malda, where rioting mobs set fire to a police station. The BJP immediately accused Ms Banerjee of minority appeasement politics and said Kaliachak was the result of that and the incident was communal in nature.
Ms Banerjee had said then that Kaliachak was a law and order problem that has been handled firmly. "There was never a riot and they will never be a riot in Bengal," she said.