TMC plans quiz contests in West Bengal schools, colleges to woo youngsters; Mamata Banerjee's struggle, state politics likely topic

New Delhi: With an eye on the 2019 general elections, the Trinamool Congress will reach out to college and class 12 students with activities like quiz contests across all 42 seats in West Bengal starting January, a party source said. The activities will be of inter-school and inter-college level and will be conducted by party lawmaker and former quiz master Derek O’Brien, the source added. The party, which conducted the competitions last week in Barasat and Jadavpur as a trial, will launch the initiative after 19 January across the state, the source said. [caption id=“attachment_4343869” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File Image of TMC leader Derek O’Brien in Rajya Sabha. PTI[/caption] O’Brien, Trinamool’s Parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha will conduct the competition along with Diptangshu Chowdhury, the co-convener of the Trinamool’s cyber cell and party member Suparno Maitra. Giving a sneak peek into the questions that the contestants will face, the source said that the competition named “Digital Challenge” will cover topics like social media, government schemes, current affairs, Parliament and Bengal. “A few questions on Trinamool and Mamata Banerjee’s struggles in her political career will also be there,” the source said. The first prize would be a trip to Delhi and a chance to visit Parliament, while the runners-up will get to visit the West Bengal Assembly. “Political parties have to find innovative ways to connect. Young people appreciate when you partner them to help them grow. That’s the intention of this first-of-its-kind initiative,” O’Brien told PTI when asked about the initiative. The Trinamool will also host a series of talks titled ‘Idea of Bengal’ on topics like health, pluralism and blackmoney. Former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha will address the first session of the series which will be held in Kolkata on 9 December.