Subhas Chakraborty: Under fire

Calcutta, May 17: Not all is well for transport minister Subhas Chakraborty, even after CPM’s Amitava Nandy snatched Dum Dum from the BJP.

Nandy’s victory may have apparently blunted accusations of a section of the CPM working against the CPM but in fact he trailed the BJP candidate by 6,000 votes in Chakraborty’s Belgachhia (East) Assembly segment.

Apart from the minister’s own backyard, the BJP’s Tapan Sikdar was ahead of Nandy in Dum Dum and Panihati Assembly segments.

The CPM brass is not too worried about Nandy’s conceding a lead in the Dum Dum Assembly segment because Trinamul Congress’ Arunava Ghosh holds the seat.

Nor are they too bothered about Panihati because the difference was slim — 682 votes.

But Belgachhia (East) is a cause of concern, especially for the CPM leaders in North 24-Parganas who were critical about Chakraborty and wanted the party bosses to initiate action against him for violating guidelines.

However, the district leaders analysing the results are divided over the “role” played by Chakraborty during the campaign. One section of leaders feel that he could have played a more effective role and worked more sincerely for Nandy’s cause. Others feel that the senior leader has lost his hold over the electorate.

Jyoti Basu, whose house in Salt Lake is part of the Dum Dum Lok Sabha seat, had said before the elections that he did not like being represented in Parliament by a BJP leader.

A section of the CPM feels Basu played the most effective role in Nandy’s victory.

At a closed-door meeting of party members at Bhairab Ganguly College in Belghoria, Basu had asked each of them to organise five extra votes to ensure Nandy’s victory. “I want to see Dum Dum wrested during my lifetime and I hope it is possible if each of you can organise five extra votes apart from your family members for him,” Basu told them.

The loss of the CPM candidates to Sikdar in the last two elections was attributed to squabbles within the party. Chakraborty was expected to play the most crucial role in a CPM victory in the Dum Dum Lok Sabha constituency but the party believes Basu won it. And, like on several occasions in the past, Chakraborty’s role is under the scanner.