BJP, TMC rakhi race, Threads of Modi - Mamata to flood 2 districts

Tamluk: Competition for pride of place, on the wrist, has become fierce in East and West Midnapores with the BJP and Trinamul deciding to distribute rakhis with pictures of Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee, respectively.

Ahead of the Raksha Bandhan on August 26, rakhi manufacturers at places like Sabang and Pingla of West Midnapore and Moyna and Bhagabanpur in East Midnapore have been working overtime to make several lakh rakhis with pictures of Modi and Mamata. The rakhis will be sent out for sale and distribution to over 100 shops in the two districts.

Shortly after Modi's Midnapore rally on July 16, the BJP leadership of the two districts decided to distribute rakhis with the Prime Minister's face on them. Almost immediately after, the ruling Trinamul in both the districts decided to counter the move with rakhis bearing the Bengal chief minister's face.

West Midnapore's BJP district general-secretary Arup Das said the "overwhelming" turnout at Modi's rally was the trigger for the decision. "We will carry out rakhi ceremonies in every booth area. Under my command alone, we have ordered for one lakh rakhis with Modiji's picture," he said.

Sexagenarian rakhi manufacturer Swapan Adhikari, who runs a unit in Sabang's Temakhani bazaar, has said out of the 4-5 lakh rakhis being made by his workers this time, around 1.5 lakh have pictures of Modi or Mamata.

"After many orders for the Modi rakhis, orders for the Mamata rakhis started pouring in," said Adhikari.

Rakhis are a talismanic thread or amulet, traditionally tied around the wrist of a brother by a sister during the festival of Raksha Bandhan. The festival is observed on the last day of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Shravan - ritually affirming the bond and receiving a gift in return. Since the struggle for Indian Independence, the festival has been associated with harmony between peoples, under the leadership of the likes of Rabindranath Tagore.

Mamata's party has been in rakhi politics for several years following her instructions to observe the festival as one of communal amity.

"As we found out this time the BJP is going to town with Modi rakhis, we decided to up our game with Didi rakhis. We will do much better than what they can ever hope to," said a Trinamul leader from West Midnapore.

The main difference, claimed Trinamul's East Midnapore district vice-president Nanda Mishra, is the fact that the BJP is going to distribute the Modi rakhis, while the people are going to buy the Mamata rakhis on their own.

The Telegraph