E-Paper
Reaching out with a touch of melody
If music could fetch votes, then Mamata Banerjee has chosen the right candidate for Uttarpara constituency in Hooghly district.
If music could fetch votes, then Mamata Banerjee has chosen the right candidate for Uttarpara constituency in Hooghly district. The singer-turned- politician and the Trinamool Congress candidate, Anup Ghosal, in this constituency seems to depend heavily on his songs rather than political speeches to woo voters, especially those whose allegiance still rests with the ruling CPI(M).
Ghosal kicked off his poll campaign on March 22 after offering Puja at Shakuntala Kali temple at Konnagar. "I will gladly sing if the voters ask me to perform," Ghoshal told HT. Till date, he had to sing several of his memorable songs often in order to charge up his party workers and sometimes to win over the voters.
Trinamool sources confirmed that Ghoshal faced several performance requests during his ongoing campaign and every time he honoured those pleas.
"To woo voters who are still with CPI(M), Ghosal is depending on his musical genius," a Trinamool leader from Uttarpara said.
Ghosal himself, however, is not ready to accept that songs will be his main medium to win the hearts of voters.
"It is not true that the CPI(M) has not done anything for Bengal. But they should have done much more during so many years and that is exactly what our party, under the leadership of Mamata wants to accomplish. Besides my songs, I will also highlight this in my election campaign," Ghosal said.
Anupama Ghosal, the singer's daughter, who is taking a big role in her father's political campaign, admitted that apart from political issues the people of Uttarpara are very eager to listen her father's songs.
"The request came from every house we knocked till date," she said.
However, CPI(M) views this exercise as a sheer gimmick.
"It is an ideological battle. So it does not matter who contests as our opposition. Even our candidate is famous in his field. The voters of Uttarpara constituency will decide finally. In 2006 Assembly elections, we defeated Sudipta Roy, who is also a famous physician," said Santasri Chatterjee, the former MP from Serampore and CPI(M) district committee member in Hooghly.
