It is clear now. Mamata Banerjee has accepted defeat and is preparing to save face

The phase 2 of the West Bengal assembly elections is currently underway, but it appears like Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has dropped in the towel already. As reported by TFI, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo has sent out an SOS letter to opposition party leaders as she pleads them to save her and the TMC from the BJP wave which threatens to sweep away her political career.

The desperate SOS letter

Mamata’s helplessness was evident from the fact that she dispatched her letter to the entire opposition and its leaders. The receivers of the letter included Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, DMK president MK Stalin, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

https://twitter.com/ItsShubhangi/status/1377210061265637378

Read more: Mamata Banerjee sends out SOS call to Sonia, Uddhav, Pawar and others to save TMC from BJP wave

Moreover, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik, YSR Congress head and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, also received Mamata’s emergency broadcast.

Calling former aide and pleading

If the desperate SOS letter was any indication, albeit in a mild tone about Mamata’s state — her phone call to former TMC turned BJP leader Pralay Pal was a dead giveaway about Didi’s worst fears coming to fruition.

Mamata had called the BJP leader a few days back and almost pleaded with the BJP leader from Nandigram to rejoin TMC and help her win the seat. “You should help us win Nandigram. Look, I know you have some grievances, but that’s due mostly to the Adhikaris who never allowed me to come to either Nandigram or East Midnapore. I will take care of everything henceforth,” allegedly said Mamata Banerjee.

When the audiotape of the conversation first went viral, Mamata, guided by Prashant Kishor’s highly skilled team, refuted the claims and called the audiotape bogus. However, the TMC leader had a change of heart yesterday and admitted that she did indeed call the BJP leader.

“Yes, I had called up this BJP leader in Nandigram. I had got the feedback that someone wants to talk to me. So, I talked to him after getting his number. I told him to keep well, to take care of his health. So what is my crime?” the TMC supremo said.

Bamba Bamba to Cool Cool – the rise of a Rapstar

While the first phase saw Mamata’s infamous ‘Bamba Bamba’ war cry in full motion, the TMC supremo in the second phase took her flair of rhyming a notch above whilst campaigning in Nandigram and gave another mind-bending slogan ‘Cool cool”. The one brain fade moment after another for Mamata is enough to predict that she has lost her marbles.

“During the election, cast your votes peacefully. Keep in mind, ‘cool cool Trinamool, thanda thanda cool cool, vote pabe joda phool’. Keep your mind cool for 48 hours,” said the TMC leader.

Massive turnout for Amit Shah’s rally and swelling support for Adhikari

While Mamata was holding a padayatra in Nandigram, it was Union home Minister Amit Shah who held a massive roadshow in the poll-bound state which dwarfed the padayatra of Didi. Shah simultaneously took Mamata to the cleaners by posing some tough and scathing questions.

Referring to an incident at Tentulbari in Nandigram last night where a BJP worker’s wife was raped allegedly by TMC goons, Shah doubted if women are safe despite CM’s presence in the area. “After reaching here, I got a sad piece of news. A woman was raped within 5-km radius of the place where Mamata Banerjee is staying. If a woman can be raped at a time when she is present in the area, how can women be safe & secure?” said the Union Home Minister.

Amit Shah was questioning Mamata’s statement where she had remarked that she was fighting the election from Nandigram because she wanted to pay respect to mothers and sisters of this place. “I could have contested from any other constituency but I have chosen Nandigram to pay my respect to the mothers and sisters of this place”.

 Brushing the death of Shobha Majumdar under the carpet

In an interview to Zee News, Amit Shah questioned Mamata for the fledgeling TMC backed political violence in the state where opposition and especially BJP workers have been routinely thrashed and killed by the TMC goons.

“Why is the chief minister mum when asked about political violence in Bengal?” said Amit Shah who highlighted the death of 85-year old Shobha Majumdar who succumbed to her injuries after being brutally beaten by the TMC goons.

“Why didn’t didi visit BJP worker’s 85-year-old mother, who was trashed by TMC workers? Why didn’t she apologise then?” said Shah.

However, CM Mamata Banerjee continues to maintain that she does not know the “real cause of death”. And as per a report by ABP News, instead of paying respects to the departed soul, Mamata Banerjee deflected from the issue by asking Amit Shah why was he silent over the death of a woman in Uttar Pradesh, which is ruled by the BJP.

Threatening the non-TMC voters

As reported by TFI, during a rally in Nandigram, the TMC supremo shot out a warning to the BJP voters saying that she will come after them when the centrally deployed forces return, once the elections end.

Read more: ‘We will see you after central forces move out,’ Mamata Banerjee threatens BJP voters of dire consequences

“I keep knowledge of every inch of the elections. After the election, the security personnel sent by the central government will go back, but if our government is formed then the BJP supporters will plead with folded hands for the central security forces to be stationed for a few more days so that they (BJP supporters) could be saved,” said Mamata Banerjee.

For a significant portion of her electoral campaign, Mamata has been forced to park her bus in Nandigram where she is fighting against heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari who had switched flanks from TMC to BJP late last year. The fight for Nandigram is Mamata’s ‘prestige battle’ and in an attempt to win the constituency she has vowed to go to any lengths, even if it involves using brazen threatening remarks to influence the voters.

Questioning PM Modi’s Bangladesh visit and complaining to EC

Hours after her audiotape of cajoling the BJP leader went viral, Mamata was seen projecting her worst fears out in the public. Afraid that PM Modi’s diplomatic visit to Bangladesh on the country’s golden jubilee Independence day celebration will tilt the minority ‘Matua’ community votes in BJP’s favour, Mamata Banerjee targets the diplomatic visit.

“Elections are underway here and he (PM) goes to Bangladesh and lectures on Bengal. It is a total violation of code of conduct of the election,” Mamata Banerjee said during a rally in Kharagpur.

These are some of the few instances where Mamata has been caught trying to shift the goalpost away from her imminent electoral defeat. However, come May 2, the voters of West Bengal will present Mamata with the sordid reality check which she has been trying to evade for some time now.