By Bappaditya Chatterjee
Kolkata, March 26 (IANS) Battlefield Bengal is now witness to the pedantic lectures of professors, the soothing prescriptions of medicos and reasoned arguments of legal eagles, besides the sudden mellowing down of previously overbearing police officers – as they woo voters ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Apart from fielding glamorous actors, party hoppers and battle-hardened politicians – Bengal’s political outfits have given poll tickets to a slew of champion professionals covering almost all spheres, from human resource consultants to ex footballers, making the job of candidate selection an exercise in variety.
If West Bengal’s emerging opposition BJP has nominated from Ghatal retired IPS officer Bharati Ghosh – once known as a tough cop feared by many in the area – the ruling Trinamool has chosen as its Krishnanagar candidate former investment banker and current legislator Mahua Moitra, who had spent years as vice president of JP Morgan in the UK.
While Ghosh would try to offset the charisma of Bengali film hero and Trinamool’s sitting MP Deepak Adhikari (Deb), Moitra needs to get to her goal bypassing ex-soccer international Kalyan Chauby, a famed goalkeeper in his playing days.
“Representing the country as a player of the national football team was a great feeling. Fighting in the elections provides me an opportunity to bring changes in system by being a part of it. Goal keeper is a very sensitive position as one has to be cautious right from the beginning to end. This is the basis of my upbringing. I will be cautious about my responsibilities, if I win,” Chaubey told IANS.
Santanu Jha, a professor of Agricultural Entomology in Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, would throw the challenge on behalf of Left Front spearhead CPI-M at Krishnanagar.
In North Bengal’s Balurghat a reputed botanist of Gour Banga University Sukanta Majumdar, known for his long-time association with RSS, has jumped into the electoral fray on a BJP ticket in a bid to stop the histrionics of theatre activist and sitting parliamentarian Arpita Ghosh of the Trinamool.
Visva Bharati University assistant professor Anupam Hazra, expelled from the Trinamool for anti-party activities, is in the fray from Jadavpur after crossing over to the BJP. Battling Hazra is a CPI-M man – leading lawyer and former Tripura Advocate General Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya. Front-ranking Bengali film heroine Mimi Chakraborty is Trinamool’s choice for the prestigious seat.
In Jangipur, once represented by former President Pranab Mukherjee, his son Abhijit is bidding to retain the seat on a Congress ticket. A mechanical engineer from the prestigious Jadavpur University, the junior Mukherjee took voluntary retirement as a general manager of Steel Authority of India in 2011 to plunge into politics.
Two doctors trained abroad square up in Barasat. With polls being all about reading the electors’ mind, the BJP has turned to a psychriatist Mrinal Kanti Debnath, hoping to upset the two-time MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar – a post graduate degree holder in Obstetric Ultrasound. Fighting the duo is the All India Forward Bloc nominee Haripada Biswas, a full-time politician.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s grand nephew and BJP’s Kolkata South candidate Chandra Kumar Bose, a human resource and skill development consultant, would take on Jadavpur University’s Computer Science and Engineering Department Professor Nandini Mukherjee – a doctorate from University of Manchester, UK. But perhaps the most formidable candidate in the constituency – where the Trinamool has never lost since its inception in 1998 – is a full-time politician Mala Roy nominated by the state’s ruling party.
“I have been teaching for last 27 years. With my professional experience, I have an elaborate idea about the education system in country as well as in the state. We have been protesting against privatisation of education. The Left parties have also been pointing out how children are getting deprived of even elementary education, apart from the widespread deprivation in higher studies.
“As a parliamentarian, if I win, I will be able to highlight necessities to improve the current ailing education system and to ensure education for all,” Mukherjee told IANS.
In Diamond Harbour, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee – considered the number two in the party – faces a challenge from a doctor, Fuad Halim, nominated by the CPI-M. The BJP, which claims to have gained a lot of ground in the constituency, is yet to name its candidate.
In Bolpur constituency, the CPI-M has reposed faith in its good old doctor, Ram Chandra Dome – a seven time MP (six times from Birbhum, in 2009 from Bolpur), who had lost to then Trinamool candidate Anupam Hazra in 2014.
The Trinamool has also given the party ticket to two gynaecologists – a sitting member Mamtaz Sanghamitra (Burdwan-Durgapur) and Moazzem Hossain (Malda South) – while an ophthalmologist, Mriganka Mahato attempts to retain Purulia.
The saga of doctor candidates in the coming polls cannot end without mentioning two names – one of whom is a prime reason for the collapse of a potential alliance, and the other, whose candidacy hangs in the balance.
Rezaul Karim, contesting on a CPI-M ticket from Birbhum against present LS member Trinammol’s Satabdi Roy and BJP challenger Dudh Kumar Mondal – was still the convenor of the medical cell of the state Congress when the Marxists named him an independent candidate in their list. This so angered state Congress president Somen Mitra that he sacked Karim and decided to call off the alliance citing his candidacy as the principal reason.
Despite having filed his nomination with great fanfare, BJP candidate Jayanta Roy – a government medical officer – may have to forego his candidature from Jalpaiguri if his resignation from service is not accepted by Wednesday when he has to produce documents showing the acceptance of his resignation during scrutiny of his papers.
With the acceptance process being multi-layered and time-consuming, BJP leaders are keeping their fingers crossed, though Roy resigned on Saturday.
(Bappaditya Chatterjee can be reached at [email protected])
–IANS
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