The BJP has been trying to rope in a popular Bengali face to counter Mamata Banerjee for some time now. Now they have Mithun Chakraborty, who PM Modi called “Banglar Chele” (Bengal's Son) at a rally in Kolkata. Calling him a “cobra that can kill with one bite”, popular actor and former TMC Rajya Sabha MP Mithun Chakraborty joined the saffron party on March 7, ahead of PM Modi’s rally at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata. Referring to his TMC stint as a “bad decision”, he said he has joined the BJP to “serve the poor.”
“Earlier my slogan used to be ‘marbo ekhane, lash porbe shoshane' (I will beat you here, your body will land in a crematorium). This slogan has become old now. I have prepared a new slogan for the campaign in this election. It is ‘aami joldhora noi, belebora noi, aami jaat gokhro, ek chobolei chobi' (I am not an ordinary snake. I am the Indian cobra. One bite can kill you),” the actor told at
the rally. West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh inducted Chakraborty into the party by handing him a party flag.
‘Banglar Chele’ to counter ‘Banglar Meye’
While addressing the gathering at Brigade Parade Ground, Modi referred to Chakraborty as “Banglar Chele” (Bengal’s Son) – an apparent counter to TMC’s ‘Bangla Nijer Meye ke Chai' (Bengal wants its own daughter) slogan which refers to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as Bengal’s daughter.
Reports about the party’s attempts to get former Indian cricket team captain and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on board have been doing the rounds for a while, but the former cricketer is believed to have told his close circle that he does not wish to join politics. In an interview with media, Ganguly revealed that he will take life as it comes. “We’ll see where life goes. We’ll see what happens,” he said.
No doubt, he enjoys massive popularity in Kolkata for obvious reasons. Ganguly said “I am fortunate to get that much attention. I don’t seek for it. I just go about my job. I just lead a normal life in this city [Kolkata], I meet people, I talk to them, spend time with them. That’s my nature. That’s the way I am,” he further added. Ganguly made his priorities loud and clear. And this is not the first time he did that. Yet, political leaders refuse to give up, hoping that the Bengal icon might take a last-minute move and join the politics.
The BJP also made efforts to reach out to Bengali film industry icon Prosenjit Chatterjee. On January 23, Chatterjee had also attended the Prime Minister’s event at Victoria Memorial on the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. However, he too denied having any political ambitions.
