Collect call

Many people may still remember receiving calls from unknown numbers on their cellphones before the 2004 Lok Sabha elections declaring, “Main Atal Bihari Vajpayee bol raha hoon.” Although Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee snapped ties with the BJP long ago she has adopted the cell-campaign strategy for the crucial Assembly elections in West Bengal. Calls from a Mumbai-based number have Banerjee appealing to voters in Bengali, “Nomoshkar. Ami Mamata Banerjee bolchhi (this is Mamata Banerjee speaking)”. Banerjee’s media managers are not taking any chances, so the mobile-message is being spread in Delhi and other parts of the country as well.