Candidates liven up Sunday show with music and dance

Elections are possibly the only time that politicians dance to the tune of voters. And this rare sight was on display when actor-turned-politician Moon Moon Sen, TMC Lok Sabha candidate from Asansol, shook a leg or two with the tribal women in her constituency on Sunday.

Sen, known for her glamorous roles in Bollywood movies as well as in Bengali films, matched shoulders with the adivasi women as the drums played a lilting beat.

A member of the outgoing 16th Lok Sabha from Bankura seat, Sen has been fielded from adjacent Asansol constituency this time by Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee.

She is pitted against BJP's Babul Supriyo, who won the seat in 2014 and went on to become a Union minister of state.

Not far behind was Sen's party compatriot and West Bengal Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee, who played a 'dhamsa madol' (drum), which was slung around his neck, at a party meeting in Bankura constituency.

The septugenarian minister has been fielded by his party from Bankura, replacing Sen.

"We go around many places during poll campaigns. I meet people of all sections, including the adivasi men and women. When they ask me to join them in their programmes, I happily oblige," Subrata Mukherjee told PTI.

Flanked by supporters, almost all candidates contesting the Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal were seen taking to streets early Sunday to make the most of a holiday, when voters can be reached at their homes.

Carrying party flags, placards and other colourful campaign accessories, the candidates walked down the lanes and bylanes of their constituencies, making house visits and asking for votes with promises galore.

With 10 days to go before the election, candidates for the five seats, which will go to polls in the first two phases on April 11 and April 18, were on a frantic race to cover as many areas as possible in their constituencies on a Sunday.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh led a padyatra in his constituency Medinipur in the morning, while compatriot Samik Bhattacharya, who is fighting from the Dumdum seat, was seen shaking hands with anyone he met on his way, as he walked down a thoroughfare, seeking blessings of voters.

The candidates of the Congress, the CPI(M) and other parties, too, tried to make the most of the day with colourful processions, meetings and door-to-door campaigns.

Speaking at a public rally at Siliguri in support of party candidate Saman Pathak, CPI(M) state secretary Surjyakanta Mishra said his party will make all efforts to ensure that a secular government is elected to power.

"People must get jobs for their livelihood and food must be ensured for all. We will go all out to ensure that a secular government, who believes in equality, is voted to power," Mishra said.

Election to 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal will be held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19.