The Trinamul Congress has set in motion an exercise to weaken the BJP from the ground up in the Jungle Mahal by engineering en masse defections or ghar-wapsi of elected representatives, taking control of panchayats and freely inducting local BJP workers.
The BJP had won five out of six Lok Sabha seats in 2019, with leads in 31 of the 40 Assembly segments, in the Jungle Mahal which is a vast tribal-dominated region comprising four south Bengal districts.
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But the saffron camp slumped to victories in only 16 of the 40 Assembly seats this summer.
Trinamul has been at work to ensure a lasting turnaround in the 100-odd gram panchayats and half a dozen panchayat samitis run by the BJP in the region.
Once Maoist den, Purulia looks towards development in coming polls indiatimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from indiatimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday sounded a warning at a rally near here that voting in favour of the BJP would lead to the return of Maoists and disruptions in normal life in the Jungle Mahal.
The chief minister’s message was aimed at reminding the residents of violence unleashed by the Left extremists in the Jungle Mahal between 2008 and 2011 and how the Trinamul Congress government had brought peace to the region.
“Purulia will not be Purulia or today’s Rupasi Bangla if the BJP comes here. You will see that the Maoists will come again (if the BJP comes to power). The BJP is more dangerous than the Maoists,” Mamata told over two lakh people at Hatmura football ground, 12km from Purulia town.