When Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee became sanguine of dislodging the Left Front from power and taking over the reins of West Bengal, one concern still kept gnawing her: the sagging economy of the state. To salvage the sagging financial position of the state, she zeroed in on Amit Mitra. She thought that if any one could
restore the fiscal health of West Bengal it would be Dr Mitra. Her confidence was not misplaced: she had seen him work wonders as the chairman of railways’ expert committee in the past two years.
It was for this reason that she persuaded him to return to Kolkata and contest as Trinamul Congress candidate. It was her master stroke to pit the secretary-general of industry lobby Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), Dr Mitra, against state finance minister Asim Dasgupta. Mr Dasgupta had been winning from Kharda Assembly constituency since 1987. This is the first time that he faced a real challenge from an equal rival.
Like Dr Dasgupta, Dr Mitra was also a student of Presidency College. But unlike him Dr Mitra did his Masters in Economics Delhi School of Economics. Both also have a US connection. While Dr Dasgupta is a Ph.D from the MIT, Dr Mitra attained the Doctorate degree in economics from Duke University. Dr Mitra returned to India in 1990 after a decade long successful teaching career at the Duke University and Franklin Marxhall College in Pennsylvania.
He has been a member of various boards of several expert and advisory boards set up by the government of India. He has been a member of eminent persons group representing India at various forums internationally.
How will Mr Mitra adjust his life from air-conditioned board rooms where he rubbed shoulders with the who’s who of India Inc. to the world of politics? “You must not forget that I come from a political background. My father Haridas Mitra was deputy speaker of the state Assembly and I used to accompany him during his campaign. My mother’s father Suresh Chandra Bose was Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s elder brother. So I come from a family of freedom fighters and politicians,” Dr Mitra said.