Mamata Banerjee fixes sandal with safety pin, showcases humble roots

Shubhadeep Choudhury

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New Delhi, May 17

She may be the Chief Minister of West Bengal and an important Opposition leader, but Mamata Banerjee has not forgotten her humble origin.

This became evident when Banerjee proposed fixing her rubber sandal with a safety pin when the strap of the sandal came off during a public meeting at Gopiballavpur in Jhargram Lok Sabha constituency of West Bengal on Friday.

There was high drama as one of the straps of Banerjee’s trademark white rubber sandal came off while she was in the middle of her speech at the election rally where she had gone to seek votes for TMC candidate Kalipada Soren.

The TMC supremo picked up the sandal and examined it in full view of the crowd and remarked that the strap gave in because of “overuse”. While one of her associates present on the dais offered the CM the pair of sandals she was wearing, Banerjee’s PSO proposed arranging a fresh pair for her.

Banerjee rejected the sandal offered by the associate, dissuaded the PSO from getting a new pair and announced that she would fix the problem with a safety pin.

Fixing rubber slippers this way entails poking the pin of a sturdy safety pin into the end of the torn strap of the slipper after running it through the hole and closing the pin to secure it. This method is taken recourse to when the disc at the end of the strap gets separated from the strap making it lose grip over the user’s feet.

Evidently, Banerjee is familiar with this quick-fix solution resorted to by poor people who cannot afford a new pair of sandal immediately if the one they are wearing become unusable suddenly without giving sufficient notice. “Trinamool Supporters”, a handle run by Banerjee’s supporters, also posted the video of Mamata examining the sandal on X.

The TMC supremo’s next programme was a road show at Kharagpur in support of the party’s Medinipur candidate June Malia. The event entailed walking a considerable distance. Banerjee apparently had addressed the sandal issue by then because she was seen walking beside Malia for the programme showing no sign of discomfort.