After Mamata Banerjee’s massive loss in the Lok Sabha elections, in which her party was reduced to 22 seats from her previous 42 in the state of West Bengal, the upcoming state elections have got her all riled up. Mamata has realised that her reign of terror is only going to push the people towards BJP which has now emerged as the main opposition and only alternative to Mamata’s tyrant rule. So now, in order to counter BJP’s growing popularity in the state, Mamata Banerjee sought the services of supposed ‘electoral wizard’ Prashant Kishor. Prashant Kishor also confirmed to Firstpost that he will be working for Mamata Banerjee for the 2021 assembly elections.

Without wasting an iota of time Prashant Kishor seems to have already started with his work to streamline the 2021 assembly elections for Mamata Banerjee led TMC. Looks like the first sign of intervention by Prashant Kishor is surely the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected TMC MP Nusrat Jahan where she was seen sporting a saree and sindoor during her oath-taking. Many extremists had taken objection to her attire during the ceremony. She took the oath in the name of ‘Ishwar’ and ended by saying, “Jai Hind, Vande Mataram, Joi Bangla, Thank you.” With the nationwide applause what went unnoticed was the overnight change in the stance of TMC.

Taking note of the electoral debacle faced by Mamata Banerjee in the 2019 general elections Prashant Kishor seems to have caught the nerve of action. Mamata Banerjee has been facing a strong anti-incumbency wave in West Bengal due to various reasons like deteriorating law and order situation. Out of all the critical issues, Mamata Banerjee’s pro-radical image and rampant appeasement of minorities have surely played a major part in bringing down TMC’s tally. Prashant Kishor coming into the picture has been handed a perfect opportunity to rectify TMC’s pro-radical image using soft techniques like these.

On Thursday the Bengali actor-turned-politician Nusrat Jahan also attended a Rath Yatra event organized by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Nusrat Jahan attended the Rath Yatra event along with West Bengal CM and TMC chief, Mamata Banerjee who inaugurated the Rath Yatra. Nusrat Jahan was also seen offering Pooja along with her husband Nikhil Jain.

“I’m fortunate to be invited by ISKCON and am really proud to be a part of the event. West Bengal celebrates all religious events together without any communal differences,” she was quoted as saying by IANS

This radical shift in dynamics of the TMC is surely an indication of efforts towards an image makeover from a party concerned only about Muslim appeasement to a party which projects Hindu values. The overnight changes in TMC and especially Mamata Banerjee becomes hard to believe due to the kind of rigidity Mamata Banerjee is famous for. The clouds of suspicion become darker when one considers the involvement of Prashant Kishor, a famed political strategist.

Rattled by the major electoral roadblock, Mamata Banerjee seems to have gone into survival mode trying to erode off her anti-Hindu image that has been formed over the past few years after her overarching efforts of minority appeasements even at the cost of compromising with safety and rights of other groups. The performance of BJP in the state has surely made Mamata Banerjee nervous and it is very likely that this image makeover is part of the survival strategy Prashant Kishore has devised for TMC.