Didi Ke Bolo

Didi ke Bolo
LocationWest Bengal
Key peopleMamata Banerjee
Prashant Kishore
WebsiteOfficial website
This article is part of
a series about
Mamata Banerjee
Chief Minister of West Bengal
Incumbent
  • Leader of Trinamool Congress
    (2001-present)

Electoral Performance



Early Political Movements



Tenure as Chief Minister


Initiatives


Controversies


Political Slogans





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Didi Ke Bolo (transl. Tell Didi)[1] is an initiative started by the All India Trinamool Congress, that provides a platform for the people of West Bengal to directly lodge concerns or complaints to the Trinamool chairperson and state chief minister Mamata Banerjee. As of 13 August 2019[update], nearly 500,000 grievances were lodged using this platform.[2]

Background

All India Trinamool Congress appointed Prashant Kishor as their political strategist after 2019 Indian general election. Kishor conducted a series of meetings with the senior leaders of All India Trinamool Congress, and came up with the idea of "Didi Ke Bolo".[3][4][5]

Implementation

A 250-members team runs an office for "Didi Ke Bolo" at Rajarhat, Kolkata. When someone calls to lodge a grievance, an executive receives the call, and notes down the contact information of the caller, and the nature of the complaint. Complaints are received from the project's official website also. Usually, a complainant gets a call back within 48 hours. The entire process is supervised by the chief minister's grievance cell.[2]

Reception

According to The New Indian Express, this campaign received good response from the people of West Bengal.[6] As of 13 August 2019[update] nearly 500,000 grievances were lodged using this platform.[2] More than one lakh people have called the helpline number in the last 24 hours to convey their messages to the chief minister.[7] In August 2019, a person in Durgapur, West Bengal was beaten up by after he lodged corruption complaint against a local political leader.[8] On 8 August 2019, 20 Bengali families from Karnataka were rescued by complaining in "Didi Ke Bolo". Their houses were surrounded by flood water.[9][10][11]

Dilip Ghosh, BJP chief of West Bengal, claimed that the campaign is copied from BJP's Chai Pe Charcha.[12] Indian National Congress leader Somen Mitra launched "Didike Bolchi" and asked several questions. Mitra remarked "We want to keep the questions and answers on record, which necessitated our own website".[13]

References

  1. ^ "Calls spur speedy action in Bengal". The Telegraph (India). Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "TMC's Didi Ke Bolo initiative in a nutshell". The Telegraph (India). Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Will Prashant formula work?". DNA India. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Didi Ke Bolo All you need to know about Mamata's new campaign in West Bengal". Jagranjosh.com. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Focus on Grassroots, Review Performance and Avoid Feud: Prashant Kishor's 10 Commandments for TMC". News18. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Mamata Banerjee's 'Didi ke bolo' gets massive response". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Chief Minister got huge support from the public through "Didi Ke Bolo" helpline number and website". Prabhat Khabar. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Attack after Didi Ke Bolo complaint". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  9. ^ "'দিদিকে বলো'তে ফোন, বন্যা বিধ্বস্ত কর্নাটক থেকে উদ্ধার বাঙালি পরিবার!". Ei Samay (in Bengali). 14 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  10. ^ "দিদির উদ্ধারে 'দিদিকে বলো'". Anandabazar Patrika (in Bengali). 14 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  11. ^ "পিকে'র টিমের উদ্যোগে বানভাসি কর্ণাটকে উদ্ধার ২০টি বাঙালি পরিবার". Bartaman (in Bengali). 15 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  12. ^ "TMC's 'Didi Ke Bolo' campaign copied from BJP's 'Chai Pe Charcha', claims West Bengal leader Dilip Ghosh". Firstpost. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  13. ^ "Didikebolchi: Congress response to Didi ke bolo". The Statesman. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.

External links

  • Official website
  • Official website (in Bengali)