Mamata pays poetic tribute to mother, deceased party workers

Commemorating the loss of her mother and the sacrifice of hundreds of party workers who died in political violence, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has paid a tribute to them in the form of a book of poems.

'Kobita' (Poems) is a collection of around 60-70 poems that catches 'Didi' in a melancholic mood as she writes about inevitable death.

Her 81-year-old mother Gayatri Devi had passed away last month after prolonged illness.

The series of poems express her poetic poignancy as many of her party workers had to lose their lives in the last few years while on their way to 'free' West Bengal from Left Front's monolithic rule for more than three decades.

A close aide of the feisty politician told PTI that after winning the battle, she feels the pain of loss of near and dear ones.

"She has always considered Trinamool Congress as her family and all party members as her family members. The poems reflect how she views the death of her mother and party workers on the same platform," the source said.

Hundreds of party activists have died in various cases of political violence, including the infamous instances at Nandigram and Singur.

The chief minister has written another book, titled 'Poribortan' (Change), which contains over a hundred photographs chronicling her meteoric rise from a grassroots worker to the highest echelons of power in the West Bengal government.

Both the books, brought out by Dey's Publishers, will be released this week at the Kolkata Book Fair.

Another subject which the CM has touched upon in the poems is nature.

"Nature in its myriad moods is her favourite topic. It is her wondering about the beauty of nature that keeps her mind occupied most of the times when she is not thinking about political issues," her aide said.

Matching sweetness with rhythm, she has expressed her love for nature in a spontaneous style.

Sources close to Banerjee said she wrote these poems during her regular flight journeys in between Kolkata and New Delhi when she was the Railway Minister from 2009 till 2011.

Last year she had come up with a collection of 31 poems in the book 'Netai', inspired by the killings of nine unarmed villagers at Netai village of West Midnapore district.

Human suffering, human rights violations, political protests and statements have always been common ingredients of her poetry.