Changing homes in search of ballot

For Sujan Chakrabarty, the heart is where the home is. The CPM candidate from Behala left his Baruipur home and is camping in Diamond Park till the polls so that he is accessible to the electorate.

Home is where the heart is, they say. For Sujan Chakrabarty, the reverse — the heart is where the home is — seems to hold true.

Chakrabarty, the CPI(M) candidate from Behala, left his Baruipur home two months ago and is camping in Diamond Park till the polls so that he is accessible to the electorate. Behala, he claims, is like a home away from home to him.

And with good reason: Chakrabarty, perhaps, wants to score a point over his opponent and sitting Trinamool MP, Krishna Bose, on this front. Voters in the Jadavpur constituency have been complaining that Bose has done little for them, largely because she is rarely available.

Besides, Behala has proved to be a sticky wicket for the CPI(M) over the last three Lok Sabha elections. The two segments — Behala West and Behala East — alone had given Bose a sweeping lead of 60,000 over her CPI(M) rival in the 1999 elections. And so, it’s Behala cholo for Sujan.

Chakrabarty himself admits that mathematics on the ground notwithstanding, he needs to concentrate on Behala, since there are problems aplenty to be sorted out. The people here have many a grievance against both the Trinamool councillor and MLA — Parash Dutta and Partha Chatterjee — for non-performance and inaccessibility.

The rented flat apart, Sujan has also promised a central office in Behala, where he will hold court on specific days and give a patient hearing to the local people coming to him with civic problems like water crisis, bad roads, clogged drains, or for any help — an ambulance to ferry poor patients to hospitals or a free clinic for slum dwellers.

Krishna Bose, however, doesn’t buy the allegation that she has been inaccessible. The electorate cannot expect her to solve all their problems. That’s the councillor or local MLA’s job.

“People have expectations … which is why they hold me responsible — if the roads are not being repaired or their houses have not been provided electricity or water, or there is a law and order problem. I am not the Chief Minister or the local councillor; I keep telling them that I cannot solve all their problems. There is a limit to what I can do...,” Bose says rather bluntly.

Chakrabarty wants to bridge this gap. Where an MP is reluctant to stoop down to the role of a councillor or an MLA, he has managed to convince the voters that he can be a councillor, an MLA and an MP, plus a promoter of sports and culture — all rolled into one.

To begin with, he has targeted the local clubs and organisations of Behala. He is reaching out to them through daily interactions and Poila Baisakh greetings. He wants to tell electorate that he’s reachable and just a mobile phone call away from them.

And if that’s not enough, he has promised them the ultimate: Behala will emerge as the Gateway of Kolkata and not languish as the city’s backyard. It has already caught on with Generation Y. There’s much more in store, of course, if they vote him to power.

Apart from Behala, Kabitirtha and Jadavpur had been with the Trinamool giving the party a lead of over 12,000 and 5,500 votes respectively last election. Chakrabarty is confident of winning in Jadavpur riding on a perceptible swing and bringing down considerably the lead in Kabitirtha.

As for Mograhat West and Bishnupur East, which had remained with the Left and given it a lead of 15,000 and 12,000 respectively in the last elections, Trinamool won’t be able to cut much ice this time.