‘Smile Didi, you are in a democracy’: Poster barbs welcome Mamata Banerjee to Delhi

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Updated: Feb 13, 2019 13:27 IST

Posters, with tongue-in-cheek messages, welcoming West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee popped up at several places in Delhi as Banerjee landed in the Capital on Tuesday to participate in an Opposition rally.

“Didi, smile to your heart’s content, you are in a democracy”, read a message in Hindi on one of the hoardings that also featured caricatures of West Bengal chief minister and have been put up by an organisation known as Youth For Democracy. The slogans clearly take a dig at Banerjee for different political developments in her state in the recent past.

The hoardings, with slogans taking a dig at West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, sprung up overnight in central Delhi. ( Sanchit Khanna/HT photo )

The hoardings could be seen on central Delhi’s Jantar Mantar road, Banga Bhawan (on Hailey Road) and Windsor Palace Circle Area.

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With just a few months to go for the Lok Sabha elections, Banerjee is in Delhi to participate in the ‘Tanashahi Hatao, Loktantra Bachao’ rally of the Aam Aadmi Party almost a month after she organized a similar show of strength in Kolkata.

Another hoarding read, “Didi no one is going to prevent you from addressing people here”, in obvious reference to the controversy stirred by permissions denied to several Bharatiya Janata Party leaders for holding events in West Bengal, forcing Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to telephonically address the people gathered in South Dinajpur for his rally.

Last month, there was a row between the BJP and the Mamata Banerjee government over a landing spot for BJP president Amit Shah’s helicopter ahead of his rally in Malda. Permission was also initially denied for the much-publicised rath yatras of Shah

Yet another hoarding read,” Welcome to Delhi, where democracy is alive and kicking, Didi.” The BJP has often accused Banerjee of stifling democracy in West Bengal, with the latest showdown being over the CBI’s move to investigate Kolkata top cop Rajiv Kumar over a failed Ponzi scheme. A BJP leader and union minister Giriraj Singh even compared her with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Bengal is crucial in the BJP’s plan for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the party has set itself a target of 22 seats in the state. The party which currently holds two seats in the state, has been bolstered with a number of senior Trinamool Congress leaders joining it.

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