Over the years, most of his days have been spent in air-conditioned rooms in plush offices of the national capital, brainstorming, analysing data and working on policies.
However, life has changed for Ashok Lahiri during the past couple of months. In his late sixties, he has had to hit the streets with leaders and workers of the BJP, touching different localities, interacting with people, delivering speeches and promising a “better Bengal.”
The former chief economic adviser to the Government of India has been fielded by the BJP as the candidate in Balurghat seat of South Dinajpur district.
“Sitting on a chair in an air-conditioned room and working in PCs with assistants… and here, running miles with enthusiastic youths who want me to run and cover as much area as possible… it is much different. I would say that contesting in the elections, meeting common people… altogether it is very educative,” said Lahiri, sitting at the BJP office in Balurghat.
An alumnus of Presidency University, he has been fielded against Sekhar Dasgupta of the Trinamul Congress and Sucheta Biswas of the RSP.
Balurghat, known to be an RSP bastion, was bagged by Trinamul in 2011. However, in 2016, RSP veteran and former state minister Biswanath Choudhury won it back.
South Dinajpur, which borders Bangladesh, came on the BJP’s radar after 2016 when Trinamul won only two of the six seats in the district.
“The saffron camp tried to polarise voters, drew support from a section of Left voters and managed to secure the Balurghat Lok Sabha seat in 2019. Another reason for its win was the acute infighting within the Trinamul in the district. The contest seems to be interesting this time,” said a veteran in Balurghat’s politics.
Lahiri, who has served on the Asian Development Bank, had stints at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and has taught at the Delhi School of Economics, said he backs the BJP’s policies.
“Also, I the admire the BJP for its direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme and also its emphasis on infrastructure development. As the party asked me to contest, I found an opportunity,” said Lahiri.
The direct benefit transfer scheme though was launched by the Manmohan Singh government in 2013.
On Bengal, the BJP candidate said: “If you make an absolute judgement, then India is progressing and so is Bengal. But the question is always relative evaluation. After Independence, it was one of the advanced states but unfortunately, Bengal has lost its position. Look at the per capita income, the health parameters, industry parameters, education… there are things we have missed out.”
“Being a coastal state, the utmost priority should be to develop a deep sea port in coastal areas. I believe we need a state-of-the-art port and there are locations like Tajpur and Sagar (Islands),” the economist said.
The road infrastructure from north to south Bengal also needs improvement, he pointed out, adding that it takes 14 hours to travel 570km (between Calcutta and Siliguri).
Lahiri, who has served as the chief economic adviser under the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, said: “Policymaking in government is a very complex process and the Prime Minister plays an important role. He is the ultimate decision maker…. I have worked under two Prime Ministers and both were very pleasant.”
