Bengal: Left-Congress Candidates Leave a Mark as State Braces for Last Phase of Polls

Kolkata: Where are Rs 75 crore that had been allotted to three Members of Parliament (MPs) from Jadavpore parliamentary segment, who got elected on a TMC ticket? a visibly charged Srijan Bhattacharya, a CPI(M) candidate in his 30s, threw a question at the ruling Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, at a press conference.

The press conference was held on Thursday, the last day of the campaign for the last phase of polls on June 1. The youth leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) took part in road shows, held numerous meetings and interactions in Baruipur town, one of the major urban centres of South 24 Parganas district.

Speaking with NewsClick, Bhattacharya outlined the blueprint for betterment of the lives of people in his parliamentary segment that boasts the prestigious Jadavpore University on and the predominantly Kolkata Assembly segments of Tollygunge (film industry), Jadavpore and Sonarpur North on the one side, and the agrarian areas of Bhangore , Baruipur North and South and Sonarpur South Assembly segments on the other.

“In the past couple of months, I have criss-crossed the length and breadth of Jadavpore a couple of times. Everywhere, I heard complaints about the ‘’missing MP”, he said.

Actually, Bengali film actor Mimi Chakraborty, the MP who won as TMC candidate from Jadavpore, beat a hasty retreat from politics after winning, he said, adding that “the same thing had happened with the earlier MP, Sugato Bose. The people of Jadavpore have not got an iota of service from three successive MPs belonging to TMC. If elected, I won’t be a dormant MP like them”.

Bhattacharya, apart from being state committee member of the CPI(M) and a Students’ Federation of Indian (SFI) leader, is also a singer and songwriter. He has own band in Kolkata, which showcases progressive songs.

At Bhangore, where TMC’s terror writ is said to loom large, this fearless student leader has led marches that were joined by thousands of people.

Moving away from traditional campaigning methods, the young CPI(M) candidate said he frequently visited intellectuals residing in the parliamentary segment and kept his focus on raising real problems being faced by the people. He said he made it a point to personally reach out to women in the area, which created quite a buzz about his campaign style.

Bhattacharya said in Bhangore,  Sonarpur North, Shahid Smriti Colony  and Bagha Jatin Hospital premises he had to even face personal attacks that were thwarted by his Left supporters.

“If the occurrence of false voting and vote loot can be thwarted in Bhangore, Sonarpur, Baruipur, with a good amount of people’s vigil on polling day (June 1), then he (Srijan) is certain to have the last laugh on June 4 (counting day),” Arindam Mukherjee, editor of Aksharpat magazine, told NewsClick.

Amala Gayen, a daily wage earner from Sonarpur South Assembly segment, said Bhattacharya’s pleasant personality and determination was impressive.

While BJP’s Anirban Ganguly is not too visible, many analysts say it is two-way contest between CPI(M) and TMC in Jadavpore.

TMC s candidate Sayani Ghosh, a film industry person, is known for her close connection with party leader Kunal Ghosh, now arrested in the school recruitment scam. According to reports, TMC history sheeter Soukat Mollah has been saying that polling day is ‘crucial’ for a TMC win, as also the number of votes that BJP can capture, which might dent Left votes.

In fact, in neighbouring Diamond Harbour, where the entire Lok Sabha segment is under the control of TMC men, another SFI leader Pratikur Rehman, a CPIM) candidate, has taken the fight to the ruling party scion Abhishek Banerjee’s door. There, too, the BJP candidate is reportedly “not visible” giving an edge to Banerjee to retain the seat.

In Falta area, another TMC ‘history sheeter’ SK Jahangir is not allegedly not allowing Rehman to campaign. Such allegations were surfacing from the entire Diamond Harbour segment, however, in the last leg of the campaign, CPI(M) state secretary Mohd Salim and Rehman participated in a road show on Diamond Harbour Road covering all “terror struck” areas like Andharmanik and Julpia. People were seen waving at the sea of red flags in the area during the road show.

In Dumdum Lok Sabha segment, where CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty is taking on octogenarian TMC candidate and incumbent MP, Saugata Roy. In Rajarhaat area, too, there are reports of alleged TMC terror but in the workers quarters of Kamarhaati, Titagarh and Khardah, the winds of change are palpable.

It may be recalled that Roy was among those implicated in the Narada sting case pertaining to a purported video recording of him taking cash. In this constitu4encey,m too, the present of TMC defector-cum-BJP candidate Shilbhadra Dutta is “scarce”.

Saira Shah Halim, Left candidate from Kolkata South.

In Kolkata South, Saira Shah Halim, wife of ‘Peoples’ Doctor’ Fuad Halim and daughter of Lt Gen Zamiruddin Shah, has done protracted campaigning and has managed turned the so-called “safe” TMC seat into a ‘volatile’ one for the ruling party.

Deboshree Choudhury, the BJP candidate, is reportedly not getting much of a response despite her basket of promises.  The fight here, too, is transcending into one between Mala Roy of TMC and Saira Shah Halim of Left-Congress combine.

Interestingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did the last leg of his road show in the state with two TMC defectors -- Shuvendu Adhikari and Tapas Roy, the candidate from Kolkata North. The PM had come to the state to bolster the media-hyped TMC-BJP binary, like he had done in the last two elections, but this time, the winds of change in favour of the Left-Congress combine could not be ignored, which was evident from the not so euphoric response to this road show.