Third phase of 'Didi ke Bolo' begins in West Bengal

The Trinamool Congress leadership on Wednesday launched the third phase of 'Didi ke Bolo' (Tell Didi) initiative to reach out to the masses.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is addressed as 'Didi' or elder sister by TMC workers.

Block presidents of the party were seen visiting preidentified villages or urban habitations as per the list provided by the TMC and held informal meeting with party members there, TMC sources said.

Over 600 block and town presidents of the party were asked to visit more than 2,000 villages and municipal wards across the state in the third phase of the initiative.

The TMC leaders will interact with party members and booth-level workers over dinner at the house of a party member and will also spend the night at the house of a party member or supporter.

Buoyed by the response to the previous phases of the initiative, which provides a platform to the people to directly lodge complaints to the chief minister, the TMC had on Tuesday announced the launch of its third phase.

Banerjee had launched on July 29 a helpline number and a website didikebolo.com as part of the outreach programme on the advise of poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who was appointed by the TMC after its Lok Sabha poll reverses.

The outreach programme had received a huge response in its first month with more that 10 lakh people registering their grievances, party sources said.

As part of the first phase of the initiative, close to 500 senior TMC leaders and MLAs had conducted outreach programmes in 1,022 villages.