Battlefield Bengal goes quiet for Indo-Pak match

 All the contending political parties have temporarily shifted their campaign schedule to the backyard in view of the match, lest a knock on the door or blaring of microphones irritated the electorate, a large number of whom would remain glued before the TV set to see a flash from Sachin’s bat.

 “We have finished our programme and packed off the campaign table by 2:00 pm today (Wednesday). After all, we have no right to deprive the voters from enjoying this crucial
match,” said an aide of the Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee.

 Banerjee had on Tuesday traversed five Assembly segments in northern part of the city in about three hours. “I am trying to reach out to people. It is part of Trinamool Congress mass contact programme. People should know the candidates,”  she told the locals in a hand-held microphone as she walked past schools and buildings.

Even the CPM, taking a cue from Mamata, decided to put a halt to its campaign blitz shortly afternoon on Wednesday. Key candidates like Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacherjee, housing minister Gautam Dev and party leader Md Selim curtailed the campaign trail for the day.

“Bhattacherjee himself is a big cricket fan, so there is no way he would make it outside during this high voltage match,” said his chief election agent.

The Congress office in the city wore a deserted look with no major presence of the leaders. The newly-elected Youth Congress president Mausam Benazir Noor, who requested the TMC chief to take part in a joint campaign with the parent party, returned to Maldah in North Bengal to be at home for the match.