Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Case of the missing Locket

Hooghly is both a river and a fluid constituency in south Bengal thatrsquos changed its colours from red CPM white blue TMC to saffron BJPmdashall within a decade and a half Until which time Hooghly like much of West Bengal was more or less the land of the Left Mamata Banerjeersquos TMCmdashbesides having supporters inherited from the Congress that Mamata broke away from in 1998mdashit is widely believed also poached cadre from the CPI MEspecially once the Left Front government fell in 2011 after 34 years of the longest rule of any elected communist government in the world There are zero MLAs from both the Left and the Congress in the current Bengal Assembly What about the BJP They went from two to 18 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Bengal And from three to 77 in the 2021 Assembly elections The latter was seen as drubbing only by those who canrsquot read numbers or the writing on the wallBJP workers Gautam and Rumeli at workNone of which adorned a lotus as late as 2019 zero seats in 2009 Which is why wersquove showed up at the suitably airconditioned district headquarters of the BJP in Hooghly three hours north of Kolkata Simply to check on whatrsquos it like to be among new members of an old party chilling on saffron chairs with a fairly festive spirit in the air as lunch is getting cookedmdashanybody can drop in to eatmdashand campaign managers brief karyakartasvolunteers from the podium mainly about stuff to distribute to crowds at the ldquoroad showrdquo with the BJP candidate Locket ChatterjeeThe roadshow essentially a drivethrough the constituency that nobody in the office has a road map for is about to commence Locket is delayed by over two hours for her scheduled party meeting Which is barely a concern going by Bengal Standard Time Soon as she enters in a saffron saree Locket locks herself in a room with her associates There is no way to figure out when she will emergeFacebook is the battlegroundThat gives us infinite time to chitchat with partyrsquos pramukhhigh level workersmdashlistening to younglings explain how much they have fun at work as buddies Gautam and Rumeli play the fool behind their computers Revealing to us how the campaign for their constituency that goes to polls on May 20 really takes place inside those machines Rather than as much onground in the heat anymoreThe BJP district headquarters from in the Hooghly constituency in south BengalGautam says ldquoOn the ground there are all of 1015 people from our end But sitting incessantly on their computers there are over 250 party workers for the constituency cutting videos making reels relaying messages roundtheclock for Locketjirdquo Besides he says there are 15 people whose job it is to make phone calls to presumably older constituents generally keeping in touch with info on upcoming eventsA poster at the party office branded lsquoNaMo for new votersrsquo with the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a phone number to place a missed call for help with elections ldquoThe actual battleground is Facebookrdquo Rumeli says She instantly adds ldquoNo can never take you thererdquo once we request a possible peek into this virtual war room that is usually spread across homes in HooghlyThe playlist currently getting curated are of Locket 49 interacting with women folkmdashthese are emotional videos of Locketji hugging ladies taking children in her arms etc The idea is to take on TMCrsquos Mamata Bannerjee whorsquos seen as popular among womenrdquo Gautam says Women in Bengal are entitled to a monthly dole of Rs 1000mdashsomething locals say BJP has promised to up thrice over if elected Locket like the younger Rachana Banerjee fielded by TMC opposite her used to be a BengaliTollywood film actorLocket left chuck itThose whorsquove followed Locketrsquos work onscreen describe her as being known for ldquoboudirdquobhabhi nonlead roles She was with the TMC until 2015 before switching over to BJP and winning the Hooghly seat in 2019 where shersquos seeking reelection In the following Assembly elections of 2021 TMC won all the Vidhan Sabha seats within HooghlyAccording to a Kolkata political analyst ldquoMamatarsquos electoral math hinges mainly on MM ie Mahila Women Muslim votes Added to the mix is the voting split between Bengalis and nonBengalis ldquoThe latter supposedly veering towards BJP which is anyway perceived as the only counter to TMC with the decline of Congress and decimation of the Leftrdquo Hooghly has a considerable nonBengali population for the fact that itrsquos also an industrial townThe constituency drew national headlines because of Singur in Hooghly district where Mamata stalled Tatarsquos Nano factory from coming up in 2008 That Singur land has returned to being an agricultural plot Locket has been promising a Tata factory in the elections Nano doesnrsquot exist anymoreAs for volunteers at her party office practically everyone spoken to strongly sees Modi as the sole message Which is why someone like young Sanu tells us he joined politicsmdashlikewise recommended by friends relatives acquaintances ldquothe brother already in the BJPrdquo in Sanursquos caseMeanwhile as the sun is about to set Locket also the general secretary of BJP in Bengal is still locking herself behind closed doors switching rooms Shersquos aware wersquove been waiting for her through the daymdashlowering our request in terms of her time to five minutes eventually ldquoYes yesrdquo she says each timeOnly to step out finallymdashrushing to her car for the planned roadshow and passing on her phone number for an interview instead Shersquos placed her supposedly scripted soundbite for a Bengali news channel alreadyHer media manager says she didnrsquot wish to meet because wersquod named her associate for reference who shersquos no more on good terms with ldquoWhat Howrsquore we supposed to knowrdquo Anyway Locketrsquos left the building No call thereafter Our phone generously buzzes with images and video of her roadshow by her campaign manager