On March 31, just a day before Bengal votes in Nandigram, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee passed a football to the crowd in the Howrah rally. The CM took the ongoing theme around football in the Bengal elections to a new level, where she again brought a real football to an election rally, in line with TMC’s war cry ‘khela hobe’ (game is on).
#WATCH: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee passes a football to the crowd, at her public rally in Howrah. #WestBengalElections pic.twitter.com/VJA5EJA1tK
— ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2021
During a public rally in Howrah, Mamata took a football and juggled it with her hands while sitting on a wheelchair. After that, she tried to bounce the ball like a basketball, but couldn’t manage it. Every time she dropped the ball on the stage, it moved away instead of bouncing back to her hands, and her aides had to play fetch to get the ball back to her. Repeating the same a couple of times, Mamata Banerjee threw the ball to the crowd, amid the chants of ‘khela hobe’.
This is not the first time Mamata Banerjee has metaphorically attacked her opponents using a football. On March 27, in a rally in Narayangarh of Paschim Medinipur, she threw a ball from the stage and said, “BJP bowled out!” It may be noted that she had pretended to play cricket using a football on that occasion.
‘BJP bowled out’: Mamata Banerjee plays with Football at rally; says she walks 4 hrs daily https://t.co/ElYixMbN0N
— Republic (@republic) March 27, 2021
The wall-painting controversy
Since Mamata Banerjee was allegedly hurt by a pole during an election rally, she attended rallies with a plaster on her injured leg. After that, a caricature titled “Khela Hobe” with her plastered leg and a football created by Sandeep Adhwaryu was published in Times Of India.
Based on that cartoon, some TMC members had made a wall painting in Bengal in which Mamata Banerjee was seen hitting PM Modi’s head instead of a football. Notably, when Banerjee was injured during a rally in Nandigram, she had alleged that she was attacked by 4-5 people. However, it was later revealed that the whole incident was an accident.
PM Modi took note of the cartoon
PM Modi took note of the wall painting and talked about it during a rally in Bankura, West Bengal. He referred to the controversial murals and said, “if you want, you can keep your foot on my head or kick me, but I will not let you kick the development of Bengal. I will not let you kick the dreams of Bengal.”
While addressing a rally in Bankura in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the murals being drawn on walls in West Bengal where CM Mamata Banerjee is shown putting her leg on his head. This comes after TMC workers have been busy creating the images and circulating the same on Social Media. It shows West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee putting her bandaged foot on Prime Minister Modi’s head.
The much-anticipated voting in Nandigram
Nandigram has become a matter of honour for both TMC and BJP in ongoing Assembly Elections in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee is contesting from the Nandigram seat against Suvendu Adhikari, who is contesting on BJP’s ticket. Adhikari was one of the most trusted members of Banerjee’s army before he left TMC and joined BJP in December last year. His departure from TMC was seen as a big blow to Banerjee’s desire to come back in power.
