He had his first brush with elections in 1962, unsuccessful though. Now after 52 years and 10 stints as a Congress MLA, Gyan Singh Sohan Pal, at 91, is the eldest candidate in the fray in the State. He still has the yen to fight another poll battle.
Mr. Pal, fondly called “Chacha”, is contesting in the IIT town of Kharagpur, which has returned him consecutive times. “Each and every one in Kharagpur knows me personally and I too know them personally,” Mr. Pal, who was first elected from the constituency in 1969, says.
Kharagpur, which has a sizeable chunk of Muslim and Malayali voters, has traditionally rooted for him. He enjoys immense respect among politicians in all parties.
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This time, the former Transport Minister in the Siddharth Shankar Ray Cabinet is contesting as a Left Front-Congress candidate against Trinamool Congress’s Ramaprasad Tiwari and BJP’s State president Dilip Ghosh.
Both the Trinamool and the BJP are hopeful of reversing the tide this time.
“I am a son of this district. Kharagpur has not seen much development under the Congress. We want to change it,” Mr. Ghosh says.
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The Trinamool is stressing on the “unprincipled” character of the ties between the CPI(M) and the Congress. “The people will defeat the unholy alliance,” a senior Trinamool leader of West Midnapore district says.