Trinamul in West and East Burdwan has distributed pamphlets introducing its candidate Kirti Azad from the Burdwan-Durgapur Lok Sabha constituency among its workers to dispel concerns about his "outsider" tag.
Trinamul has fielded former cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad, 65, from the Burdwan-Durgapur constituency to wrest it back from the BJP. The constituency comprises five Assembly seats in rural East Burdwan and two Assembly seats in Durgapur town
The two-page introduction highlighted Azad's family background, his cricketing achievements and his 30-year-old career in politics. "He is the son of a freedom fighter. He protested against the malpractices of the Narendra Modi government as a BJP MP," said a Trinamul functionary here.
Azad's father Bhagwat Jha Azad was a physician-turned-freedom fighter who became the chief minister of Bihar.
Azad's cricketing career is also highlighted in the introduction, as is his protest against "corruption" in cricket and the BJP.
The introduction says that those trying to label Azad as an "outsider" should know that a player never plays for himself, he plays for his team and country. It added Azad's team now is Trinamul, which is proud of him.
"He is not a politician from Bengal nor a popular celebrity here, hence an introduction was needed," said a Trinamul functionary.
He admitted that grassroots Trinamul workers faced problems as Azad spoke in Hindi, strengthening his "outsider" tag.
Many party workers said they were finding it tough to promote Azad in the constituency in the absence of a local identity.
"Our candidate was a member of the 1983 World Cup winning team. But unlike Kapil Dev or Sunil Gavaskar, he is not a known face among the young generation. His political activities are restricted mostly to Delhi and Bihar," said the leader.
Referring to the Trinamul MP of Asansol Lok Sabha, actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, the Trinamul source said: "The star doesn't need any introduction. Asansol also has many Hindi-speaking voters. Burdwan-Durgapur is different."
In 2019, Trinamul MP Mamtaz Sanghamita lost the seat to BJP's S.S. Ahluwalia.
