Pilloried by the BJP for alleged appeasement politics, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is trying to shed her image of being only pro-minorities to regain the ground lost in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
She is attempting to take the battle to the rival camp, with her government coming up with a series of measures in favour of Hindus, including a special allowance for a section of priests. In the polls held in April-May, the BJP aggressively plugged the Hindutva narrative and made unprecedented inroads in West Bengal, with its tally jumping to 18 Lok Sabha seats from 2 it had bagged in 2014.