In Bengal, candidates change tack for outreach: Turning barber, making rotis, ploughing fields

On the occasion of Eid last week, Naresh Chandra Bauri, the Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s candidate from Dubrajpur in Birbhum district, played a game of handi phod – attempting to break a suspended earthen pot while blindfolded. Though he failed to hit the target, Bauri used the moment to deliver a political message, saying the BJP would similarly be defeated in the forthcoming elections.

Bauri’s rival in the Scheduled Caste (SC)-reserved Dubrajpur, the BJP’s sitting MLA Anup Kumar Saha drew the spotlight for his own public connect when he took on the role of a barber, offering to shave a local resident’s beard, with the scene going viral on social media.

Though Bauri had won from Dubrajpur in the 2016 polls on a TMC ticket, his party’s another candidate from the seat had lost to Saha in 2021. Dubrajpur was the only seat in Birbhum district – known as a bastion of TMC strongman Anubrata Mondal – where the BJP had managed to plant its flag in the previous elections.

Behind these candidates’ unconventional canvassing seems an intent to project humility and grassroots connection before the voters.

Saha’s avowed objective is to show that his feet are firmly on the ground, despite being the sitting legislator. Speaking to The Indian Express, Saha said, “For me it is important to speak to all. Now, when I saw that a person was sitting to get his beard shaved, I took the opportunity to serve him and talk to him. In this way, I showed respect to the barber community and also utilised every minute to urge people that change is required.”

In Hooghly district’s Pursurah constituency, TMC candidate Partha Hazari was spotted inside a voter’s kitchen, rolling out rotis before cooking them in a clay oven as the household had run out of cooking gas.

By making rotis with a voter in a traditional oven, Hazari said he sought to raise the issue of the LPG shortage, blaming the BJP-led central government for the fuel crisis. “I have made rotis before, I used to cook at home so I know a bit of the craft. Many families are struggling because gas cylinders are not available. I only tried to lend a helping hand. The people over here are happy that a local boy has been made a candidate. I am the son of this area and I visited everyone’s home so they can get to know me,” Hazari told The Indian Express.

The BJP’s sitting Pursurah MLA Biman Ghosh, in an apparent display of his “connection” with rural voters was spotted ploughing fields during his campaign.

In the Arambagh constituency’s Hatbasantapur area, TMC candidate Mita Bag was seen turning over cow dung cakes that had been laid out by a voter to dry as supporters raised slogans of “Joy Bangla”. Later on, in the same locality, an octogenarian voter, excited to see Bag campaigning, broke out into a dance and was even joined by the TMC candidate, who embraced the woman and lifted her up into the air. “I am always a happy person and I mix with people as my own. So this is nothing new for me,” said Bag, who is contesting a seat currently held by the BJP.

In Jhargram district, the BJP’s Gopiballavpur candidate Rajesh Mahato launched his campaign with devotional chants with villagers, even playing with gulal as he went door-to-door across the constituency.

In the Goghat seat, currently with the BJP, TMC nominee Nirmal Maji, who is a doctor, also entered a villager’s mud house to help with cooking before sharing a meal with the family. He was also seen examining patients with a stethoscope while canvassing.

The BJP’s Goghat candidate Prashant Digar was spotted in a farmer’s potato field, assisting locals with harvesting.