Doctors to campaign for Left front

Pro-Left doctors in the city have decided to campaign for Left Front candidates contesting the assembly elections. HT reports.

Pro-Left doctors in the city have decided to campaign for Left Front candidates contesting the assembly elections.

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About 50 senior doctors, including gynaecologist and obstetrician Baidyanath Chakraborty, cardiologist Anjanlal Dutta, nephrologist Joyanto Basu, pathologist Subir Dutta and West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC) president Ashoke Chowdhury, have published leaflets requesting members of medical fraternity and common electorate to vote for Left Front candidates.

The senior doctors have directly appealed to the electorate fearing deterioration in the relation between patients and doctors if opposition parties came to power.

Many doctors attended the chief minister's face-to-face interaction with pro-Left intellectuals at Kala Mandir a few days ago.

About 300 junior doctors mainly interns, house staff, post graduate trainee (PGT) doctors associated with different state-run hospitals brought out a procession from Park Circus tram depot on Monday evening seeking votes for CPI(M) candidate Fuad Halim contesting against Trinamool candidate Subrata Mukherjee in Ballygunge constituency.

Abhijit Banerjee, secretary of Junior Doctors Council (JDC) backed by CPI(M), said about 400 junior doctors participated in the road show requesting votes for Halim. JDC would also organise a similar road show in the district in support of Left Front candidates.

"Being government doctors we cannot directly ask our colleagues to vote for any political parties. But in different meetings we have sensitised doctors to think about the law and order situation once the opposition parties come to power in Bengal. Many doctors are being forced to give their monthly salaries at gunpoint to the Maoists rebels in districts like West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia," said an AHSD office bearer.