Banerjee: A fighter who beat the Left and the Right | Economic Times

From riding pillion, to holding protests against petrol price hike, to campaigning across the state in a wheelchair and taking on the election commission and the BJP every day, one thing that Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee did during three months electioneering was to fight. And that is what she has done all through her political career from the youth Congress.The 66-year-old politician is a veteran of several fights and on Sunday won a landslide victory in Bengal, though she lost her personal contest in Nandigram to BJP's Suvendu Adhikari. She credited the victory to Bengalis and called it a victory of India and democracy. Political observers credit Trinamool’s bigger win in 2021 to Banerjee’s rigorous voter reach out.Banerjee took it upon herself to convince voters that as long she was around, she would not let Bengal be ‘taken over by outsiders’. She called out the BJP for its lavish use of five-star hotels and convoys of large cars that she said were inimical to Bengali ethos.“She was up against the might of so many national leaders, a campaign that blamed her for her secular credentials and attacked her family and even questioned her injury. Naturally, people of Bengal who have a deep emotional connect with her felt the need to be protective. This victory is bigger than 2011,” said political analyst Kaushik Barman.The CM took overnight defections in the party with gumption, telling leaders, "karmi works only for the party and leader," often warning them that she would know if they were in touch with the BJP. Despite leaders such as Amit Shah and Narendra Modi attacking her "for running a party like private enterprise," she did not let her campaign lose steam. And when the EC banned her from campaigning for 24 hours, she sat on a protest.In most administration meetings she attended, she insisted that local leaders change their attitude to people. "In South 24 Parganas and Diamond Harbour, she specifically pulled up leaders such as Soakat Mollah and Arambul Islam, asking them why they were working against people. She told them to return the money they looted from people. Her sincerity was what people liked," a Trinamool party worker said. "Our ground management was better because our councillors were told strictly that their political future depended on their booth skills," he added.Women voted overwhelmingly for her mainly because of the Kanyashree monetary scheme for school girls, scheme for giving cycles to girl students, pension for widows and most importantly, eggs for children in government schools twice a week which women said helped them save almost Rs 200 a month. Banerjee never was caught off guard by the ‘Didi o Didi’ attack. She gave it back in good measure by counter attacking Modi.In Raniganj, she reminded people of women's police station that she had built. In Diamond Harbour and in Murshidabad, after being attacked by BJP for asking Muslims to vote unitedly for her, she told them to vote wisely or their names wouldn't be part of voters' list next time.