Taking a leaf out of a global playbook, where fashion has long been used as a political statement, Trinamool Congress has designed a T-shirt for its workers to flaunt and attack its opponent - BJP’s Amit Shah.
The T-shirt bearing a cartoon picture of the BJP stalwart’s face along with the caption ‘India’s Biggest Pappu’ comes in several colours – white, black and yellow.
The BJP had branded Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with the epithet ‘Pappu’ which the Mamata Banerjee-led party is now trying to use to mock Shah.
The party is eager to make the most of this campaign during the coming Durga puja when a large number of people descend on roads for pandal hopping in all parts of West Bengal.
“Mocking is the most powerful form of communicating. It started from the comment made by our national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and it became a trend on social media. Then it came on T-shirts,” the TMC’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien told PTI.
While talking to reporters on September 2 after he was grilled for over seven hours by the ED in connection with a coal smuggling case, Abhishek Banerjee described Shah as ‘India’s Biggest Pappu’.
The very next day, Banerjee’s cousins Akash Banerjee and Aditi Gayen posted photographs on social media wearing T-shirts with a cartoon of Shah and the slogan.
TMC sources said Abhishek Banerjee is guiding young party workers on new designs of the apparel which is sold at a 'nominal price' of around Rs 300 apiece.
“Initially, the T-shirts were available online. Now, one can get them in wholesale markets,” O’Brien claimed.
Three to four designs are currently available now and more are coming to hit the market ahead of the Durga puja festival, said the MP who himself posted still photos and a video donning such a T-shirt in white colour.
The video, shot near the Parliament building, was shared on his Twitter handle.
“College students and young party enthusiasts who are not more than 25 years old are creating those t-shirts. They do not want to be named. But the designs, I would say, are mind-blowing,” O’Brien said.
The MP also wore the t-shirt on a flight from Kolkata to Delhi.
Several people posted their photos on social media donning those t-shirts seeking to lampoon Shah.
“The Congress should like this campaign. The BJP used this term to mock their leader. Now the BJP is getting back their own medicine,” O’Brien said.
Reacting to such a campaign, senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha claimed that this “personal attack” would be a flop show.
“The TMC has no issue to fight the BJP. That is why they are targeting people personally. It shows that the party is heading towards the end,” Sinha said.