Bengal CM losing his hold in Jadavpur?
After he successfully led the ruling Left Front to massive victories in the last two Assembly elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has established his position as the star campaigner for the ruling CPI(M) and the Front.
Thus it is strange that in over one month since the elections were announced on March 1, he has not left his Jadavpur constituency.
In 2006, Mr Bhattacharjee made industrialisation his main poll plank and succeeded in getting a huge mandate from the people — the Left Front won 235 of the 294 Assembly seats in the state. In the 2001 and 2006 Assembly polls, he was busy campaigning for the Left Front and did not spend much time in his own Jadavpur constituency.
In any case, elections in Jadavpur for him was always a cakewalk. The situation has changed drastically. It is for this reason that in the past 38 days, he has addressed 14 meetings in Jadavpur.
He has interacted with a cross section of society including students and youth. Mr Bhattacharjee is taking pains to convince his voters to remain loyal to the CPI(M).
The Chief Minister is undoubtedly facing the toughest electoral battle of his life.
More than anything else, it is his reputation at stake.
As a master stroke, Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has pitted his former chief secretary Manish Gupta against the Chief Minister. “Didi is determined to see his (Bhattacharjee’s) defeat,” a Trinamul Congress MP said.
In 2006 also Ms Banerjee had fielded a former IAS officer Dipak Ghosh against Mr Bhattacharjee but he had tounced Mr Ghosh by 58,000 votes.
“In 2009 parliamentary election, however, the margin in Jadavpur Assembly segment came down to 19,000 and in the last civic poll, Trinamul Congress was leading in six of the 10 wards of the seat,” a CPI(M) state secretariat official said.
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