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| Few doubters on Mamata making it to Lok Sabha for 6th time |
| Press Trust of India / Kolkata May 12, 2009, 11:36 IST |
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Although her arch rival and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee campaigned in her backyard for the CPI(M) candidate, few doubt the victory of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee from the Kolkata South constituency, which she has won five times in a row.
Ever since Mamata, fondly called 'Didi' by her partymen, moved into this prestigious seat in the heart of the metropolis she has never looked back.
While the CPI(M) has contested Rabin Deb, who had lost the 2004 Lok Sabha poll to Mamata by 98,429 votes, the BJP has fielded Jyotsna Banerjee.
A party organiser and former Left Front chief whip in the state Assembly, Deb, had lost the 2006 Assembly elections from Ballygunj to Trinamool candidate Javed Khan.
Aware that it would be a tough battle for Deb, the CPI(M) had requisitioned services of its top leaders, including party General Secretary Prakash Karat, who campaigned in Ekbalpur area of the constituency.
After delimitation the seven Assembly segments under Kolkata South are — Rashbehari, Ballygunj, Behala Purba, Behala Paschim, Bhabanipur, Kolkata Port and Kasba. Currently, Trinamool Congress holds Rashbehari, Ballygunj and Behala Paschim Assembly segments, while Behala Purba is held by the CPI(M).
Kasba, Bhabanipur and Kolkata Port are newly created segments.
Keeping in mind that Left Front government's industrialisation drive might strike a chord with the city voters, the CPI(M) raked up the issue of shifting of Tata Motors' Nano project from Singur to Gujarat and dubbed TC as anti-industry.
The chief minister has been critical of the TC's role in Singur, where, according to him, thousands of youths from the state would have got jobs had the Nano project stayed.
Mamata has, however, denied the allegation that her party has opposed the Nano project.
"We said let the industry and agriculture flourish together. We demanded return of 400 acre to unwilling farmers. The Left Front government is bluffing in the name of industrialisation," she claimed.
The CPI-M is also trying to woo Gujaratis and Marwaris, who form a sizeable population in the constituency.
Party general secretary Prakash Karat during a recent visit to the city, attended a function organised by the Gujarati Samaj.
In the minority dominated Kolkata Port segment, the CPI(M) has been raising the issue of Mamata's past association with the BJP and the NDA and saying that after the elections she might again return to the saffron camp.
Being the TC's only star campaigner, Mamata criss-crossed the state to campaign for her party candidates and held many road shows along with senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee.
During the campaign, she raised the issue of land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram besides 'terror tactics' of the ruling party.
Despites loosing to Trinamool twice, the CPI-M candidate, Rabin Deb, was leaving no stone unturned, matching the TC's campaign in wall writings, banners and posters.
He is toiling hard to reach out to voters even in lanes and by-lanes, as a host of marxist leaders campaign for him.
Unperturbed by the high-pitched marxist campaign, Mamata only said, "let them campaign. The people of South Kolkata are our strength."
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