Not so long ago, West Bengal chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged a “conspiracy” through social media by “CPI-M and Maoists” in the context of a cartoon lampooning her, circulated on Facebook by a Jadavapur University professor. However, a politically isolated Banerjee today chose to take her campaign for APJ Abdul Kalam to Facebook as well as to the streets of Kolkata.
Making her debut on Facebook, chief minister appealed to fellow citizens to create public opinion for APJ Abdul Kalam’s candidature as the President of India. “This is my first post on this page. I am a humble, transparent, common person like the vast majority of you. I gave voice to what millions of Indians want to see in a President,” she wrote in her post.
Acknowledging her limitation as a leader of a “small party”, she reaffirmed her stand and appealed political parties and citizen to support Kalam.
“We in the All India Trinamool Congress support Dr Kalam as the presidential candidate. I have already given a clarion call to other parties to support Dr Kalam as President. Along with my other fellow citizens I can only urge them to consider this call... In a democracy people’s will is supreme. I request all my fellow citizens to petition their public representatives to stand up, support and vote for Dr Kalam. Let your voice be heard. I will bow to the will of the people,” she said.
Meanwhile, TMC sympathisers today hit the road of central Kolkata in the afternoon in support of Kalam.
In a parallel development, heated exchanges between state-level TMC leaders and Congress continued. The TMC hit back at the state Congress, which crticised Banerjee’s opposition to Pranab . “If the Congress ministers wants to quit the state government, they should do that,” Firhad Hakim, urban development minister, said.
West Bengal Congress MLAs met yesterday. In the meeting the party unanimously condemned TMC’s opposition to Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature as President. The state committee of the Congress has sent a note to the Congress High Command expressing its willingness to quit the state government.
However, Congress MP Deepa Dashamunshi said even if they quit the government, they would continue to support the TMC from outside.
