Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress was caught running ads appealing for votes in Bangladesh on Facebook.
As seen in the above video, when you click on the ‘info and ads’ on the official Facebook page of Mamata Banerjee led TMC, you could see the countries where TMC is running ads during the ongoing general elections. The drop-down menu gives two countries as an option, meaning, TMC is running ads in the two countries. The first country is India which is understandable because the elections are being held in India. The second option, however, is Bangladesh, the neighbouring country West Bengal shares its porous wall with.
Mamata’s TMC is running as many as 13 ads on Facebook, including an ad where Mamata is appealing to people in Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency to vote for TMC in the ongoing elections. Why is Mamata appealing for votes in Bangladesh via Facebook is anybody’s guess because last we checked, only Indian citizens could vote in Indian elections.
The West Bengal Chief Minister appealing for votes in Bangladesh was also pointed out by other Twitter users. Surprisingly, when OpIndia team tried searching for the same on a mobile phone, it threw up a message that TMC is running no ad in Bangladesh.
Facebook, however, did show ‘Bangladesh’ as an option. Facebook shows the location as an option in the dropdown menu only if the page has ads running in that location. That could mean that TMC might be in the process of pausing ads in Bangladesh after being called out on social media.
This is not the first time Mamata has involved the neighbouring country Bangladesh for appealing for votes. Earlier this month, two Bangladeshi actors were found campaigning for Mamata’s TMC in West Bengal. Bangladeshi actors Ferdous Ahmed and Gazi Adbun Noor were campaigning for TMC in parts of Bangladesh. While Ferdous’ visa was revoked by the MHA blacklisted, it was discovered that Noor visa had already expired.
West Bengal shares a porous international border with Bangladesh and illegal infiltration from Bangladesh has been a cause of worry for India’s security. Mamata Banerjee, however, has no qualms in appealing for votes in a country from where illegal infiltration is rampant and a cause of worry for India.