For the past one month, Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen has been stationed in Nandigram to manage West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s constituency. In an interview to BusinessLine , Sen explained how the TMC plans to counter their own strongman, Suvendu Adhikari, who has switched over and is challenging CM in her own constituency. Excerpts:

Suvendu Adhikari was your strongest leader from Nandigram, how do you counter him in his own turf?

We don’t do negative campaigning. It is unfortunate that Adhikari (Suvendu Adhikari) has chosen to join a divisive, communal political force whose only agenda is to divide India on caste and communal line. Didi stands for the Constitution of India and has fought for the poor all her life. She does not have to fight to win; people elect her naturally. She was the leader of Nandigram and it is not something we have to advertise.

 

But you have been camping here for one month. You are sitting here with the TMC President and a Cabinet Minister. The Chief Minister will be camping here for the last four days of campaign. Surely, it shows anxiety...

(Smiles) It is the Chief Minister’s constituency. Are you suggesting that she doesn’t come here at all? Didi is our candidate from every constituency, in fact. She is campaigning everywhere. So, surely, she should come to her constituency also. You’re not looking at the forces that the BJP is mounting against a lone woman; from the Home Minister (Amit Shah is addressing a road show in Nandigram on the last day of the campaign i.e. March 30) to film stars; they are calling whoever they can. I am a party worker who is coordinating the campaign. The rest is managed by our workers. We are running a quiet campaign and we will win.

The BJP has raised caste and community identity issues in Bengal for the first time, and Adhikari was your strongest leader in Nandigram. Doesn’t all of it make it difficult for the Chief Minister?

We are very happy that there is a contest. You see, we are a democratic party who believes that multi-party democracy and the Constitutional supremacy is good for India. We are not a believer in one-party rule and say they will rid India of all other parties. So we are very happy that our opponents are fighting Didi. Unlike the BJP, we believe that elections are a democratic process and everyone has an equal chance. But you see, as far as Didi and the people of Bengal are concerned, there is no contest. Didi lives in the heart of the people. You see, there are all kinds of narratives. The PM went to Bangladesh and said that he went to jail for the freedom of Bangladesh. But our late PM, Indira Gandhi, supported the freedom of Bangladesh and Mukti Bahini. So, if the Indian Government was supporting the freedom of Bangladesh from Pakistan, who was it who sent our Hon’ble PM to jail at the time?

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW