He is not only one of senior-most leaders of the Trinamool Congress but also has the distinction of being its first elected MLA. Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, Chief Whip of the Trinamool Congress in the West Bengal Assembly, veteran trade union leader and captain of the Indian boxing team in the 1960s, says that notwithstanding reports of inner party rivalry, the Trinamool is a democratic party.
“Over the past five years, the focus of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been on development. She had to show the people what her government had accomplished. I am sure that after this election, she will devote more attention to streamlining the party,” the Trinamool leader said.
People had been suspended and expelled from the party in the past for anti-party activities, he recalled.
Mr. Chattopadhyay, 72, was a Congress MLA from Baruipur when the Trinamool Congress was formed on January 1, 1998. He gave up his seat and contested from Rashbehari in a by-election on the Trinamool ticket a few months later to become the party’s first MLA. He has represented the seat since then. Rashbehari in south Kolkata will go to the polls on Saturday.
Being a trade union leader, he has a good idea about the state of industries in Bengal. He does not agree that the State is moving backwards in tax collection or industrial development.
“The government has been focussing on small and medium enterprises, where there is a lot of scope for employment generation and it is indeed yielding results,” he said.
Was the policy on land acquisition coming in the way of large industries setting up shop in the State?
The Trinamool leader says there is a need for a balanced approach. “The question is, in such a densely populated country like ours, how much land can we give to industry and how much for agriculture?”
Contesting against the Congress-Left Front-backed candidate Asutosh Chatterjee, he does not seem to be bothered about the Opposition. What is closer to his heart in this campaign is wall graffiti. Mr. Chattopadhyay refers to several areas in his constituency where walls have been covered with cartoons and couplets that can catch the imagination and fancy of children. “I do not like slander campaign, the kind the Opposition is indulging in against Mamata,” he said.
He doubts the Left-Congress alliance would work. “Those who are still with the Congress are hardened supporters. Otherwise, they would have joined the Trinamool. After decades of hostile rivalry, they will not vote for the Left,” he said.
