Service trouble
Thalekunnil Basheer — who was made temporary president of the KPCC(I) when the incumbent, Ramesh Chennithala, was asked by the high command to contest the Assembly election — seems to be taking his assignment very seriously.
Mr. Basheer has alleged that the election department of the 14 collectorates in the State has been filled by workers of the Left's service organisations. He claimed that members of the other service organisations had been kept out of the election department by foisting false cases against them. He alleged that the Left's service organisations were appointing their nominees in the various squads being set up to ensure free and fair electioneering.
Mr. Basheer has asked the Election Commission to see that service votes and postal ballots are sent to everyone, and also wants arrangements to be made to deposit the ballots that are returned after polling to the strong box, the key of which should be kept by the Returning Officer.
The young brigade
The youngest candidate of the Left Front in West Bengal, 25-year-old Shatarup Ghosh, may not hail from a political family, but his nomination from the Kasba seat in Kolkata has so enthused young supporters of the Left that a bunch of sons and daughters of ministers and senior CPI(M) leaders joined him on his campaign.
State Health Minister Surjya Kanta Mishra's daughter Roshnara, and Housing Minister Gautam Deb's son Saptarishi were in attendance, as were Ajanta Biswas and Ushasie Chakraborty, the daughters of the late CPI(M) State Secretary, Anil Biswas, and of the president of the State CITU unit, Shyamal Chakraborty, respectively.
Dressed mainly in kurtas and jeans, the second generation campaigners hit the streets as early as 8 a.m. to seek blessings and votes for their young comrade.
Ushasie Chakraborty and Ajanta Biswas are both professors at Rabindra Bharati University where Mr. Ghosh is pursuing his Masters degree.
An ear for votes
The short run-up to the Tamil Nadu Assembly poll and the resulting time crunch in launching a full-fledged campaign has led party cadre to thinking of ingenious ways to make up for the loss.
Last week, at Chintadripet in Chennai, speakers were blasting a recorded speech of AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa, which has been telecast regularly on Jaya TV. There was no election meeting, not even a gathering, just speakers at every street corner.
“There is no time for our leaders to go everywhere before the election, though they would like to. And yet as cadre, we have to ensure that they are in the voters' minds,” one party member explained. “This way, they can at least listen to the voice of Amma.”
Contributed by K.M. Tampi, Ananya Dutta and Ramya Kannan
