CPI(M) junks red, shifts to blue-white colour DP; draws sneers in Bengal

Kolkata: Bengal CPI(M’s) decision to change its Facebook and Instagram display picture (DP) from red to blue-white, favourite colour of Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, its arch-rival, drew sneers from the people of Bengal who also raised questions if the colour change will at all prove beneficial to the party after losing political prominence.

The CPI(M)’s new display picture features a golden sickle and hammer against the background of a blue sky with cotton-like white clouds. Many questioned why the party chose a colour that was used by the ruling Trinamool Congress in its campaign materials and also by the Mamata Banerjee government in painting government buildings, kerbs and bridges.

Many were taken aback by this striking visual shift where red, a colour associated with the CPI(M) for so long vanished from the official Facebook and Instagram accounts. Is this a strategic move to attract younger voters or a mere coincidence, a large section of people asked.

The ruling Trinamool Congress’s IT cell leader Debangshu Bhattacharya on social media satirically said that red has merged into blue-white. Bhattacharya further stated that CPI(M) that is actually floating in the empty space released their display picture. Some of the CPI(M) leaders however claimed that the display picture’s colour and design are changed every four to six months, or to mark any special occasion and there is nothing so significant.

Social media has however erupted in laughter after the incident.

Red has been globally recognised as the colour symbolising communism, socialism and revolution and it has been an inseparable part of the flags of Leftist and Communist parties in India as well. Does the colour red seem less appealing to the Left parties, many have raised the question.