‘Didi’, a Bengali word meaning elder sister and the endearing nickname given to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by her supporters, is at the heart of the state elections again this time, after Amit Shah used it in a phrase mocking the Trinamool supremo.
“Ae Didi, aankh aur kaan khol ke sun lo” — “Open your eyes and ears and hear this, Didi,” Shah, the federal home minister, said in Hindi — and continued to claim that voters would oust the TMC this time.
This remark caught the attention of the TMC, which saw it as an echo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘didi or didi’ in the 2021 campaign, and alleged that this was a display of ‘misogyny’ by the BJP.
The dispute came as the campaign for the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, scheduled to be held on April 23, ended on Tuesday evening.
What did Shah say?
Addressing his final public rally for the first phase in West Medinipur, Amit Shah launched a direct and pointed attack on CM Mamata Banerjee. Amid promises of development, Shah stressed that the TMC period is coming to an end.
“Tata, bye didi, aapka samay samapet hua (your time is up),” Shah announced to the crowd, “You (Banerjee and TMC) have upset the people of Bengal a lot. It is time for you to leave and for the BJP to come in.”
TMC stands for ‘misogyny’
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose and other party leaders described Shah’s statements as inappropriate and “revealing”.
The party said the Union minister’s behavior revealed the “true face of the BJP”. Goss said Shah often acts like an “elections minister,” prioritizing aggressive campaigning over governance.
She specifically referred to the BJP’s narrative of ‘Nari Shakti’ (Women Power).
“In Parliament, they raise slogans of Nari Shakti and Nari Samman (respect for women),” the TMC stated, “but in reality, they neither believe in Nari Shakti nor respect it. For them, Nari Shakti is just a slogan; they believe in ‘Nara Shakti’ (the power of slogans).” Her reference was to the recent dispute over the new government’s move to set the quota for women in Parliament at 33%.
The TMC stressed Mamata Banerjee’s status as a prominent leader who has served as a seven-time Member of Parliament and a three-time Prime Minister, arguing that Shah’s language was a direct attempt to “insult and assault her dignity”.
“Today, our home minister once again called our honorable president ‘Aye Didi’. This was not something that was said unintentionally. The Prime Minister also showed this manner when he said ‘Didi or Didi’. It was all said deliberately over and over again,” Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, another senior woman in the TMC, said in a Bengali video released by the party.
She stressed that this kind of rhetoric will not work in Bengal.
“He said: ‘Open your eyes and ears; I tell him to listen now: Bengal will respond to this appropriately, women will respond to this. Are these your values? Learn the values of Bengal; learn how to respect women. The people of Bengal will respond to this with their democratic strength,'” she added.
Echoes of 2021: “Didi or Didi”
In 2021, some analysts believed that the Prime Minister’s tone and frequent use of “Didi or Didi” backfired on the BJP, significantly improving its tally, yet Banerjee became the Prime Minister for the third time by a wide margin. The TMC then framed his words as a taunt against the “daughter of Bengal”.
Beyond the personal barbs, Shah’s speech on Tuesday was characterized by aggressive stances on national security and law and order. He warned Mamata’s “heroes” to stay home on polling day, saying: “We will track them down even from the underworld and send them behind bars.”
He also reiterated the BJP’s commitment to removing “infiltrators”, mainly referring to Muslims who have allegedly come from Bangladesh over the years.
“Today, I will tell the hackers that the counting of votes will take place on May 4, and on May 5, the BJP government will be formed. Get ready to go to Bangladesh quickly,” he said.
Voting for the first stage is scheduled to take place on April 23, and the second on April 29.
Earlier this week, the TMC and the BJP also clashed with PM Modi calling them misogynistic, while Mamata Banerjee asserted that her party has nearly 40% women among its MPs, against less than 13% for the BJP.
