His latest release was “Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan” this Eid. Sections of Bengal’s leading political party are now hoping that Salman Khan will live up to his billing and help the Trinamool Congress gain some traction with the Muslim electorate which, of late, has been spurning Didi’s advances.
After all, Bengal’s Muslim voters have always been loyal bhais to their Bhaijaan, while they themselves have been the Jaan of the Trinamool Congress, having voted en bloc for the party in election after election till recently.
A frisson of excitement is running through the nerves of die-hard Trinamool supporters who are reading a lot more into the news that superstar Salman Khan will pay a visit to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s unassuming home in Kalighat in Kolkata this weekend.
Trinamool insiders said that the minority cell and IT cell of the party had been instructed to play up the visit in social media like Facebook and Youtube. Youtubers from the minority community who enjoy a large subscriber base in the rural and suburban areas, are the main targets, TMC insiders said. Naushad Siddiqui of the ISF, which is aligned with Congress and Left Front, and deeply anti-Trinamool, said: “It doesn’t matter if Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan or any other Khan comes. They are most welcome. However, our CM Mamata Banerjee should try and see how many industrialists are coming and how many jobs are being created. Otherwise, she is only indulging, like she always does, in communal politics”. The superstar is headed to Kolkata this weekend to perform for fans as part of his Da-Bang tour. He is coming to Kolkata after 13 long years. Actresses Pooja Hedge, Sonakshi Sinha, Jacqueline Fernandez, Prabhu Deva and pop star Guru Randhawa will be present at the event. Mamata Banerjee’s party, the Trinamool Congress, is desperately hoping that Salman Khan, who is known for bailing out damsels in distress in reel life, will work his magic on the minority voters in real life as well. The stakes are high. The Muslim vote is the single-most important reason for the Trinamool Congress staying in power in West Bengal. However, the recent rout at the Sagardighi assembly bye-elections gave a huge shock when numbers revealed that the Muslim bloc had moved its votes away from the Trinamool and had favoured the Congress-Left Front nominee who romped home with a huge majority. Bayron Biswas, the Left-backed Congress candidate, secured 47.35% votes while the TMC’s share dropped to 34.94%. The BJP came third with 13.94% votes. Sagardighi is in Murshidabad district where Muslims comprise 66.28% of the population, the State’s highest among all districts. Since the time it was formed in 1998, the Trinamool Congress had always received the backing of the Muslim vote. The Sagardighi loss bothered Mamata so much that in the Cabinet Meeting she questioned Minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury about why Muslims voted for the Left-Congress alliance although she was running so many welfare schemes for them. Banerjee formed a committee of four Muslim legislators and ministers to probe the Sagardighi defeat over concerns that it could be a sign that Muslims, who constitute about 64% of the population in the assembly segment, could drift away from the party in future elections. Minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury said that Banerjee had sought a detailed report on why Muslim voters turned away from the TMC. Minister of state Sabina Yashmin, a legislator from the adjoining Malda district, which has Bengal’s second-highest Muslim population of 51.27%, is part of the committee. Fans can expect Salman to bring the house down with some of his best dance numbers and an entertaining show. Mamata and her party will be hoping that some of his charm will rub off on the fortunes of the Trinamool Congress as well.
