Ahead of Panchayat polls, CM likely to visit North Bengal

Amitava Banerjee | MP | 15 Feb 2023 : Prior to the Panchayat Elections, the Trinamool Congress supremo and state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to visit North Bengal, sources said. 

According to the administration sources, it is likely to be a single-day visit. Political leaders have dubbed the visit as a significant move. An administrative meeting was held on Wednesday at the Public Works Department (PWD) Inspection Bungalow in Siliguri. The administration preferred to remain tight-lipped about the meeting. 

Sources stated that arrangements and the programme schedule of the Chief Minister were discussed in detail in the meeting. Siliguri Mayor Gautam Deb; Arun Ghosh, Sabhadhipati of Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad; S Ponnambalam, Darjeeling District Magistrate and Akhilesh Chaturvedi, Police Commissioner were present in Wednesday’s meeting. 

According to administration sources, the Chief Minister might attend a government programme in Siliguri on February 21. It could be a programme from where welfare schemes are handed over to beneficiaries of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and nearby districts. Three venues have been earmarked. 

Kanchenjunga stadium, Kawakhali ground and a school ground under Dabgram Fulbari Assembly constituency are being readied for the programme. The venue will be finalised and announced later. 

Kanchenjunga Stadium, however, remains the prime choice. Banerjee is supposed to stay in Siliguri on February 21. The Chief Minister may go to Meghalaya on February 22. But this schedule is yet to be confirmed. 

“The Chief Minister’s visit will be of importance for the people of North Bengal,” stated Mayor Gautam Deb. Meanwhile, political experts consider this visit of the Chief Minister to be of significance, timed before the Panchayat elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party fared well in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in North Bengal. 

The TMC, led by Banerjee, would definitely try to woo over the voters. Already dents have started showing in the saffron camp with key leaders from North Bengal switching over from BJP to TMC. Alipurduar MLA Suman Kanjilal has recently switched over. MP and All India Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee recently had held two meetings in Cooch Behar. 

From the meeting, he had ordered party workers and supporters to surround the house of Union Home Minister Nishith Pramanik on the issue of BSF. 

It is to be seen what the Chief Minister instructs from the meeting in Siliguri, stated political observers. She would also try to woo Hill voters with Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha, the TMC ally by her side. Both the parties have fared in recent hill elections with all the four hill municipalities and the GTA in their bag. 

The assurance of giving Land Right Documents to tea garden workers of the GTA area could see the light of day with Banerjee distributing a few Pattas as a token gesture, further cementing party base in the Hills, feel observers.

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/ahead-of-panchayat-polls-cm-likely-to-visit-north-bengal-508831