- 1 day ago
This episode of Election Despatch explores the political landscape in Mirzapur, Digha and Nandigram ahead of the Bengal assembly elections, focusing on the impact of polarisation, anti-incumbency, and welfare schemes.
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00:09A religious procession.
00:14After seven days of fasting, an ode to Lord Shiva.
00:23Drums beat, the smell of incense snakes through the streets
00:28as people watch Transfixed.
00:36Much like an electoral procession snaking through Bengal
00:41where people are watching Transfixed.
00:45An ode to democracy.
01:20Who knew there was a Mirzapur in Bengal?
01:24Let's toto it out.
01:31Come on brother.
01:38Let's go.
01:56Mirzapur, where the sound of looms clapping tell you the story of the famous Murshida
02:09silk.
02:19What is it if you don't like Mojita .
02:21Who is it that I like?
02:39Your pies.
02:40What happens when it comes, it doesn't look like it.
02:45This time?
02:49Is it a flower or a flower?
02:51Is it a flower or a flower?
02:55Is it a flower or a flower?
02:58Is it a flower or a flower?
02:59Is it a flower or a flower?
03:09All I got is that she doesn't like Mamcha.
03:24Do you know Indian?
03:28Do you understand me?
03:30Do you understand me?
03:32Maybe she doesn't like to speak.
03:34Cause I don't have to talk.
03:39Do you understand me as you can engage in Hindi.
03:45If we can engage in Hindi?
03:46Yes, I'm getting up to date.
03:48But what knows is that?
03:50Well, when I can withdraw from Hindi, I can hear.
04:01Now it's happened.
04:03Two months.
04:06What are you coming, Didi?
04:08What are you coming, Didi?
04:09What are you coming, Didi?
04:11Now tell me, I have asked Bangali to say,
04:14or not. Didi came on?
04:18Didi came on?
04:18Didi came on?
04:20Yes.
04:21Tell me.
04:22Didi came on?
04:24No.
04:25No.
04:25Mandi was.
04:27No.
04:29In Bangali.
04:31Didi came on?
04:33Yes.
04:34Didi came on.
04:35Didi came on?
04:35Didi came on?
04:35Yes.
04:36Didi came on.
04:37No.
04:38Didi came on.
04:50Muhammad.
04:51Shri Mataji
04:54You seem like a little like a mom, like a baby
04:57A little bit
05:00Just a little bit
05:02A little bit
05:03A little bit
05:05So you also like a baby?
05:06Yes
05:07Yes
05:08This time you also like a baby?
05:10Or this time you like a baby?
05:13Dada means?
05:14Modi
05:15Dada means Modi
05:19So, do you want your dad or your dad?
05:23One, tell me.
05:25Who is your dad?
05:28We will not tell you.
05:31We will not know all of this.
05:33We will not know all of this.
05:34We will not know all of this.
05:37No, it is not, but it is good.
05:39Let me tell you, your dad has worked.
05:42Yes.
05:43It means given, not given, not given, not done, not done.
05:46Yes.
05:47What was it done?
05:49No, I did not.
05:50You did not want it.
05:52In the background, I had written,
05:55yes, her dad just did,
05:56and they did not.
05:57What did it do?
05:59What did it do?
05:59What did it do not do?
06:00Just tell your dad.
06:05Yes, it was.
06:09No, it didn't.
06:09Did I think,
06:10no,
06:10this place to serve
06:11yes.
06:30How long have you been doing this for 8 years?
06:41How much time do you have to make a sari for 5 days?
06:51How much time do you have to make a sari for 5 days?
07:01We have to make a thousand.
07:05You have to make a thousand.
07:06Do you have to make a thousand?
07:08What do you think about it?
07:16Our sister is doing a good job in this bungal.
07:20We have to make a good job for this loom.
07:25We have to make a good job of living.
07:28We have to make a good job of living.
07:30We have to make a good job of living.
07:32All of these people are working on this bungal.
07:37Modi ji has given us some other information.
07:43We have to make a good job.
07:45We have to make a good job.
07:57We have to make a good job of living.
08:01Come here dad.
08:03We have to make a good job of living.
08:05This is our house.
08:09We have to make a good job.
08:18This is our house.
08:21What was he saying? When he was doing this work?
08:2710 years old.
08:31He did this.
08:33He was happy with the government.
08:36He was happy with the government.
08:38He was happy with the government.
08:47He was happy with the government.
08:49He was happy with the government.
08:53He was happy with the government.
08:56When he was born, he was happy with his own government.
09:02I've known a good mother as a child.
09:06We really liked the child.
11:09The days before a state goes to vote, there is always a sense of listlessness, anticipation
11:17to some, retribution to others.
11:50It is said to be everything.
11:54But in politics, it truly is.
12:01When the moment is ripe, governments can fall almost overnight.
12:10When it isn't, even the strongest efforts struggle to take hold.
12:19Power shifts not just on ambition or strategy, but on whether one era has truly ended and
12:28another ready to begin.
12:57The BJP fails.
12:59Once their time has come.
13:13Riding on the back of 15 years of anti-incumbency is a potent mix of polarization.
13:26This time, will Bengal rise above subaltern regionalism and band together on religion?
13:49The West Bengal elections have been the most polarizing with a communally charged backdrop.
13:55The Bharatiya Janata Party going all out to paint Mamata Banerjee as anti-Hindu and pro-Muslim.
14:01Mamata Banerjee on her part many a times, even in 2021 state elections, had recited the Chandipath, the Durga Chalisa
14:09from stage.
14:10But this time around, some fear that she could be cornered with the anti-Hindu narrative, clubbed with it 15
14:17years of anti-incumbency.
14:19So to counter the muscular Hindutva of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mamata Banerjee has come up with her own brand
14:28of soft Hindutva.
14:29Three temples have been opened just in the last one year alone.
14:34Right behind me, the stunning Jagannath Dham in Digha, fashioned over the Jagannath Temple in Odisha.
14:47On 16 January 2026, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee laid the foundation stone of Mahakal Mahatirth Temple in Siliguri.
14:59In December 2025, Mamata Banerjee had laid the foundation stone of Durga Angan in Kolkata.
15:07About six months before that, she had performed the consecration ceremony at Jagannath Dham Temple in Digha.
15:16This is the first temple in West Bengal's history whose consecration was performed by a Chief Minister.
15:30Does your знаешь were created by this temple?
15:33Mamata Ji.
15:34Mamata Ji do you like?
15:37Mamata Ji do you like in West Bengal when you do most works on equitable here.
15:41Did you work or haven't done this?
15:42It worked.
15:45Do you speak with us? We are doing a show. Do you know Hindi?
15:49Yes, Hindi, but we hesitate to feel a little shy.
15:53Don't do that. Where did you come from?
15:56We came from Chandanagar, Huggli district.
15:59Do you come from Huggli?
15:59Yes.
16:01Do you come from Huggli?
16:02Especially for Jagannath Mandir and Seabeech.
16:05Do you want to move to the government?
16:08Yes.
16:08Do you want to move to Huggli?
16:14Yes.
16:15If you look at this, the work is bigger.
16:18Well and good.
16:19So this time you want to move to Huggli?
16:21From Purulia?
16:22Yes.
16:2370-75% of the BJP will win.
16:27Why do you feel like that?
16:27That's why I feel like that because the corruption and the problems of TMC and the government
16:32do not accept it.
16:36Do you not accept it?
16:37No, I don't like it.
16:39Do you have any questions with Mamta Didi?
16:41If you take it, the vacancies are already finished.
16:45The vacancies are already finished.
16:46The women who are going to be in the same place.
16:49You are going to be in the same place.
16:51Yes, I am.
16:54Yes, I am.
16:54A little bit of Hindi.
16:55Hindi, I am not.
16:56A little bit of Hindi.
16:57A little bit of Hindi.
16:58A little bit of Hindi.
16:58A little bit of Hindi.
16:59Where did you come from?
17:01First Bengal.
17:01Where did you come from?
17:02From Calcutta.
17:03You all came from Calcutta.
17:04How did you come from Calcutta?
17:06Yes, yes.
17:08In Calcutta.
17:08It is the first time.
17:09Yes, yes.
17:10It is the first time.
17:11How did you come from Calcutta?
17:13It is good.
17:14In Calcutta.
17:15Do you like Mamta Didi or do you not like?
17:18Yes, I like.
17:20It is.
17:21Do you like this?
17:22Do you know that now is Paribaratan or Didika?
17:24What is it?
17:25Do not know how to tell you what I do.
17:26No, I do not know.
17:29Tell me.
17:30I want a little bit better.
17:33Whatever you want, it will be better.
17:37Do you feel a change during this time?
17:38I think there are 50-50 chances,
17:41which are not possible in Bengal.
17:42What was the first time?
17:44Yes, anything.
17:45Did you work in Bengal or not?
17:48Did you work in Bengal?
17:50Did you work?
17:51Yes, I was a student, but I was not a student.
17:54When I was listening to my mother,
17:58there were changes.
18:00Dad, tell me one thing.
18:01There is a narrative that Mamtha Didi is anti-Hindu.
18:05Is it or is it?
18:06I can't say it.
18:08Because in Bengal,
18:10there is a lot of thinking for Hindus.
18:15Is it anti-Hindu?
18:17I don't think so.
18:19Is it anti-Hindu?
18:20Is it anti-Hindu?
18:22Is it anti-Hindu?
18:24Is it anti-Hindu?
18:26A certain percentage.
18:28Is it anti-Hindu?
18:31That should not be disclosed.
18:33That should not be disclosed.
18:34I totally agree.
18:35Where did you come from?
18:36Where did you come from?
18:37Where did you come from?
18:39It's 24-24.
18:41Did you come from the first time?
18:42No, it's a lot.
18:44It's a lot.
18:45Dad, we are starting with Bengal.
18:47What is the place in Bengal?
18:49How is the place in Bengal?
18:50Yes, girl.
18:52How is an election in Bengal?
18:54How is the place in Bengal?
18:55It's not a little.
18:55It's a great place.
18:57Good.
18:57It's a great place.
18:59What do you have done in Bengal?
19:01What did you have done in Bengal?
19:01In Bengal, there was nothing, nothing.
19:04I didn't do anything.
19:06Nothing happened in Bengal.
19:07Something happened in Bengal.
19:09Very, very good.
19:09Very, very good.
19:10What did you say?
19:13You said today,
19:13You say that Mamata didi is anti-Hindu.
19:16I say BJP.
19:19Do you say right or wrong?
19:20Yes, I say right.
19:23Do you say that Mamata Banerjee is anti-Hindu?
19:26Yes.
19:27Do you oppose Hindu?
19:30Do you oppose Muslim?
19:32I don't like Muslim.
19:35So, Mamata Banerjee is Hindu.
19:39Do you like Hindu?
19:41Do you like Banerjee?
19:42I like it.
19:43I like it.
19:43I like it.
19:45I have no idea.
19:47I don't like BJP.
19:50Why do you like BJP?
19:51I don't like BJP.
19:54I don't like it.
19:57What's your name?
20:00Herumbo.
20:01I'm from Mamata Banerjee.
20:02Thank you, Dad.
20:11In 2021 elections, the TMC had a vote percentage of 48.5%.
20:18The BJP, 38.4%.
20:22Then, in 2021, the TMC got a majority of the minority vote and a sizable chunk of the majority vote,
20:32propelled mostly by women.
20:36To split it, the Hindu vote forms nearly 70%, including 23.5% scheduled caste and 5% to 8
20:46% scheduled tribe.
20:48The Muslim population, about 27% as per census 2011.
21:01The BJP would hope this time the Hindu vote consolidates and the Muslim vote splinters.
21:25Namaskar Ji.
21:26Namaskar Ji.
21:27Namaskar之前.
21:29SpongeBob Bernsteinuje psych Musik
21:30Wat Joyce Son того?
21:30It's about 26.8%ить.
21:32This is 8% of the population population of 8% of the population population.
21:33I want energia from которой.
21:36Mydr Projekt Kadiraj.
21:37After 28. cond clearing of the And화�razee, bloodshree, head rock suprem Н inventory of the nineryegoosplaşem and other almost depends
21:37on which and diversifies the 척 Chilean for the Firstly.
21:37The response is tremendous, and it is for survival.
21:42Do you feel it?
21:44Yes.
21:45And in Bengal, there is a lack of survival.
21:47If you want to mention the reason,
21:50according to my opinion,
21:51Mamata Bainar Ji was the rule of Tusti Karan,
21:56where you are taking one place,
21:59taking one place and taking another place,
22:01and you are suppressing the place.
22:05For this reason, the common Hindu,
22:07who is the last level of Hindu in the city,
22:12has now understood that this is an issue of existence.
22:17If there is no problem here,
22:19then we will not be able to escape here.
22:22Under the banner of Hindutva,
22:25the BJP looking to galvanize the majority vote.
22:31Sit here. Thank you.
22:33Sit down.
22:35Welcome.
22:37Okay, let's go.
22:39Ready, guys?
22:41Rolling, rolling.
22:42Okay.
23:28In the cacophony of this election procession,
23:31and the backdrop of polarization.
23:48I meet an award-winning artist couple in Nandikram, the bastion of Suvendu Adhikari,
23:56where he scripted history by defeating Mamata Banerjee in 2021.
24:23This couple specializes in folk art, folklore, storytelling, through art.
24:33They specialize in painting the scenes from the epic Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the stories
24:39of Hindu gods and goddesses.
24:44Both celebrated for it.
24:52A footnote to the story, they are Muslims.
25:01What's your name?
25:04My name is Saira Chitrakar.
25:07My name is Preeti Chaudhary.
25:09My name is Avid Chitrakar.
25:12Avid Chitrakar.
25:13Yes, ma'am.
25:13So you both make a Chitra in Bengali folk art.
25:17Yes, ma'am.
25:17And you received so many awards.
25:19You have come from Indonesia.
25:21Yes, ma'am.
25:21You lead to India.
25:23Yes, ma'am.
25:42Maybe in Bengal people have created a Chitra.
25:44Yes, ma'am.
25:44My name is Hattuaj.
25:45Which is this?
25:46What is this?
25:47This is Chandi Mangal.
25:48Chandi Mangal means,
25:51the word that my Quran says,
25:55the word that is Dynasty is the word of Turkey.
25:56The word that is called Turkey.
25:59Yes, ma'am.
26:00What is this?
26:01Hear the word, hear the word.
26:12Durgatara ma go dukko bi nasi ni
26:20Durjayo dokhine naam taar no gendro nundini
26:29This is Durgamah. This is your folk.
26:36Fishka.
26:36Fishka is going to be married.
26:37It is a folk tale.
26:41Dedev, you are not Hindu?
26:46No.
26:48You are not Mohammed.
26:49You are not Mohammed.
26:53Mata, Devi, Puja, Mahabharata, Ramayana.
26:57This is traditional.
27:00This is Vanshan Parampara.
27:02This is Vanshan Parampara.
27:03This is Vanshan Parampara.
27:04You are not Hindu.
27:04My dad is a very big Durgamah.
27:09The man is a very big Durgamah.
27:11He does Durgamah.
27:13Yes, that is.
27:14He does Durgamah.
27:15He does Durgamah.
27:16He does Durgamah.
27:18He does Durgamah.
27:19He does Durgamah.
27:22He does Durgamah.
27:25He does Durgamah.
27:39There are others of us who are not the caso of Muslim,
27:58Muslim is no difference.
28:01Is it in Bangalore how it works?
28:02Yes, I am.
28:03Now is there a lot of Hindu Muslims?
28:06Sometimes it is happening, but there is a belief.
28:10Yes, it is.
28:12Now is there.
28:14Look, the Hindu is a Hindu,
28:20and I am Muslim.
28:24But the rule is good,
28:26and the rule is good.
28:26Leave it.
28:30Leave it.
28:32Leave it.
28:35How do you want Bangalore?
28:36If you are now Muslim,
28:38who will come?
28:40But how do you want Bangalore?
28:41Do you want Bangalore to be a Samritika?
28:45Yes.
28:47What does?
28:47I mean,
28:49if you are Hindu, Muslim,
28:51or Christian,
28:52whatever you are,
28:53you should live here.
28:56Yes.
28:57Do you want that?
28:58Yes.
28:59Yes.
28:59Is it better from before?
29:01Or is it better from before?
29:03No, it is better from before.
29:05Yes.
29:06Thank you so much.
29:11Thank you so much.
29:15Here we go.
29:16Thank you so much.
29:29Je repent,清iverse,
29:33yourapi.
29:34See you next
30:03Satsang with Mooji
30:14Satsang with Mooji
30:36Satsang with Mooji
30:39Satsang with Mooji
30:40Satsang with Mooji
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