Candidates take offbeat route to connect with voters in Bengal

In West Bengal, candidates across party lines are engaging in quirky campaigns to connect with voters in their constituencies. From giving people a shave at a local barber shop to helping someone chop vegetables in a kitchen, candidates are doing it all to boost their prospects in the upcoming State Assembly elections.

These theatrical visuals from electoral campaigns have now gone viral on social media. Several social media influencers have also begun making parody versions of these viral videos.

Partha Hazari, a All India Trinamool Congress candidate from Hooghly’s Pursura, entered a local’s kitchen and began making rotis on a clay oven. The women of the house said that their LPG cylinder had run out, taking a dig at the current LPG crisis, which the Trinamool has raised as a major election issue against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On the other hand, BJP’s Asansol Dakshin candidate Agnimitra Paul fried fritters at a local’s house. “Since our Chief Minister recommended that we fry fritters and tea to make money since there are no jobs in the State, this is what I am doing,” Ms. Paul said.

Ms. Paul further added that there is no industry in West Bengal, leading to a lack of jobs, and accused the Chief Minister of wrongfully claiming that 21 lakh jobs had been created in the State.

Meanwhile, Ranjan Dhara, fielded by the Trinamool from Balagarh, took a detour and entered a neighbourhood kitchen, where he began cooking a meal at a local’s house. Candidates of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were not far behind in the trend. Shuvojit Dasgupta, CPI(M)’s candidate from Rajarhat-Gopalpur, was seen cutting banana flowers at a local’s house.

In a parallel campaign, Anup Saha, BJP MLA from Dubrajpur, entered a local barber shop and began giving a shave to a customer seated in the barber’s chair, drawing attention on social media.

Deviating from the party’s usual narrative of a vegetarian diet, BJP candidate from Bidhannagar, Sharadwat Mukherjee, canvassed with a fish, attempting to signal that the saffron party would not impose restrictions on non-vegetarian food if it were voted to power in West Bengal.

Another BJP candidate, Gopal Chandra Saha, fielded from Malda, was seen working in the fields and collecting potatoes alongside farmers. Meanwhile, Trinamool’s Mitali Bag was seen trying her hand at cooking, farming and knitting across multiple households in her Arambag constituency.

To draw a youth connect, Trinamool’s Ramjiban Mandi from Keshiary constituency was seen running 12 km to reach a meeting addressed by party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. Another candidate, Pratibha Rani Maity from Narayangarh constituency, has been campaigning on her cycle, reaching voters inside villages.

As Bengal and its candidates prepare for the high stakes election in the State, political leaders are turning to everyday activities to connect with voters and strike a chord.

The State is headed for a two phase poll on April 23 and 29 for 294 constituency seats.