Mamata launches TMC's new outreach campaign, online app ahead of Bengal panchayat polls

The outreach campaign, which is apparently shaped by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, is named as Didir Suraksha Kawach.

The campaign, which will run for 60 days, will ensure all voters have access to the schemes which the TMC government have introduced over the years.

Under the campaign, the TMC volunteers, workers and leaders will interact with people in various constituencies and also spend a night at one of their colleagues' houses.

An app named Didir Dut will be available on playstore, said Abhishek at Nazrul Mancha in Kolkata.

The campaign has been unveiled at a time when the TMC is facing corruption allegations on all fronts.

However, Mamata says the campaign is not for any upcoming elections but "a continuing process".

"We had started Duare Sarkar when there was no election. This is a continuing process," said the TMC supremo.

"This campaign, which has been shaped by the young party members, will help people to reach out to us and express themselves," added Mamata.

Ahead of the 2021 assembly elections, Banerjee had introduced several mass outreach campaigns like Duare Sarkar, Paray Samadhan, schemes like Lakshmir Bhandar, expansion of Swastha Sathi card to thwart the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from assuming power in the state.

Despite winning the 2021 polls by a mammoth margin of seats and votes, the TMC was embarrassed last year after a huge sum of money was recovered from its top minister Partha Chatterjee's close Arpita Mukherjee's residences in connection with the teachers' recruitment scam.

Both Partha and Arpita were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate.

TMC strong leader from Birbhum, Anubrata Mondal, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the cattle smuggling case.

The latest instance of corruption allegation stems from the selection of beneficiaries in the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, a central government scheme which aims to build houses for the poor.

Several reports claim the panchayat functionaries faced backlash from the people who were allegedly denied benefits under the Centre's flagship scheme.