KOLKATA: Setting up stalls of Marxist literature near the Puja pandals during the festive days had always been the tradition of Leftist parties in West Bengal especially CPI(M) for many years.
The CPI(M) leadership believed that Marxist literatures are the best medium for public relations exercise. Hence the maverick Bengali Marxists, though claiming themselves to be atheists and affirm to be keeping away from religious rituals, never lost an opportunity to utilise the Puja platform in pushing the Leftist ideology.
Now, Trinamool Congress is following suit. Trinamool workers and mid-level leaders will be present at the Puja pandals this year, with books written by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, paintings by her and illustrations on different developmental projects of the state government. Speaking about it, member of Trinamool Congress Sevadal, who is in charge of the distribution of these documents in different stalls, said that last year because of the COVID-19 situation, they refrained from setting up stalls near the Puja pandals.
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“But the situation is different this year. The number of people affected by virus is lesser this time. So we are setting up stalls which will display the literary works of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. It will also have booklets that highlight success stories of the state government,” he said.
Speaking on this issue, senior Trinamool Congress MLA and the party’s spokesman, Tapas Roy said the Trinamool Congress leaders and workers stay with the people throughout the year. “We do not want to look at these stalls near Puja pandals as a mere public relations exercise. Mamata Banerjee is the role model for Trinamool Congress workers and leaders. So her literary workers are assets for the party. We want people to have access to them easily and want people to know about Trinamool Congress’s political agenda. So we are setting up these stalls this time,” he said.
However, Sayandip Mitra of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of CP{I(M) told ETV Bharat that any political party has the liberty to set up its own literary stalls adjacent to the Puja pandals. “There is a big difference between the stalls of Trinamool Congress and ours. We used to display a gallery of Marxist or Socialist literature but the stalls of Trinamool Congress showcase only the so-called and arguable art and literary works of the chief minister. While our stalls were aimed at connecting the masses with socialist literature, their stalls are blatant attempts to portray the chief minister as the creative person of the millennium,” he said.
