On his political career...
I was chief election agent of the Left Front candidates in 2009, 2014 and 2019. I am my party’s state secretariat and central committee member. I am a political disciple of (Forward Bloc leader) Chitta Basu. I do not have much of formal education — I was a student of Barasat Pyaricharan Sarkar Rashtriya Vidyalaya — but socially I have the stature to mingle with people.
On his rivals...
It is the misfortune of the people of Barasat, one of the oldest towns in Bengal Renaissance, that they got such tainted candidates. A national party should have been more careful in its choice of candidate. I do not want to say anything more.
Finger on the pulse...
In earlier elections, people used to stand stiffly in silence when we went. Now they smile and come forward to greet me. There is speedy erosion of Trinamul’s Muslim votes which is coming to the Left. Even the BJP’s Hindu vote bank is seeing fractures due to anti-incumbency. They have been in power for over 10 years now. Last time (fielding a Matua candidate) did not help. The election was fought on a nationalistic plank in the aftermath of Pulwama attack. But this time even after Ram temple construction, we do not see much of enthusiasm around it that Modi had expected to happen. People’s priority is price rise — rice and grains, edible oil, petrol-diesel, LPG. Gold price is touching the sky. No one knows how middle and lower middle class families would marry off their daughters. Medicine prices have skyrocketed. A Pan 40 tablet used to cost Rs 7.30; now it costs Rs 12, all thanks to the crores donated through electoral bonds by pharmaceutical companies. I did not seek security from the Election Commission of India. They have given me security since yesterday on their own. They must be perceiving some threat. Otherwise, why should I be given security cover? The fight for Barasat will be a keen one. BJP has no organisation at the ground level in Barasat. The cadre-level combat will be between the Left and TMC. We are worried about TMC bringing in goons.
Electoral math…
Those who are predicting constituency-based leads are misleading people. No prediction will hold. There is discontent in the air. People are siding increasingly with the Left. Had the election happened 10 days later, it would have worked further in our favour. Prime Minister Modi in his Ashoknagar rally attacked the Left besides Trinamul. If Left Front improves its showing, BJP will be finished in Bengal. The Congress votes will come to us. The state government is in power for 13 years, the Central government for 10 years. So there will be anti-incumbency feelings.
A government’s job is not to construct temples but to protect its people. Will people survive through the building of temples? We had demanded an allowance of Rs 10,000 during Covid to support people. The 100 days’ paid work (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) was the result of the Left Front’s agitation during the UPA-1 government. The BJP stopped the allocation as TMC robbed the funds. People are regretting the exit of industry from Singur-Nandigram. No heavy industry has come since then and will not come till Mamata Banerjee is in power.
Forward Bloc is Netaji’s party, yet the BJP seems to be usurping Netaji…
You have to understand our (limitations in) power. The pandal at Modi’s Ashoknagar rally (reportedly) cost Rs 35 lakh. They brought people from Bongaon and Barrackpore. The meeting (reportedly) cost them Rs 1 crore. It is beyond us. We did not opt for electoral bond for the sake of transparency.