Sujit Bose, the fire and emergency services minister in the outgoing Trinamul Congress government, is seeking a fifth term as the MLA of Bidhannagar. He has already done several road shows in Salt Lake and one from Dakshindari to Bangur. Smaller indoor interactions are happening at the community level.
Here are some of his words heard on the campaign trail and answers to some questions put to him by The Telegraph Salt Lake.
On SIR: The Election Commission is playing with people’s democratic right to vote. All this is a ploy to wrest control of Bengal by hook or crook. No matter how many times Prime Minister and home minister fly over to Bengal and deliver long speeches, our state cannot be handed over to zamindars from Delhi. Gotobar bolechhilo 200 paar hobe, holo 77. Ebar pogar paar hoye jabe.
Whether SIR will play a role in the result: About 4,000 have got deleted till now. It is not a question of affecting the result. I will feel sad for the people who will not get to vote. I want every voter to get a chance to participate in the election, even if he or she votes for some other candidate. The Election Commission has no right to delete names of legal voters. So many people came to my house requesting for domicile certificate, saying “Sujit da, amra toh last election eo vote diyechhi. Kintu ora amader naam kete diyechhe”. Do not give a single vote to this party.
On receiving a notice to appear from the Enforcement Directorate on the day of filing nomination: This is a ploy to harass me before the elections and disturb my campaign. I have no problems appearing before them but why can’t they wait till after May 4, when the election results will be out? This issue dates back to 2023. So why are they suddenly calling me now, that too on my nomination day? My son went with some documents, in compliance with the notice. The rules allow me to send a representative.
They had even called my family earlier. Let them show the panchnama (a legal document that records evidence, findings, or observations made by an investigating officer during a seizure) of the search they had conducted. It had yielded a nil certificate. The chargesheet (for the case on South Dum Dum Municipality corruption) did not have my name. If they think they will win the election by heaping a pack of lies on me, they will fail. It is not so easy to bog me down. Sujit Bose bhoy pawar lok noy.
Sujit Bose campaigns in Salt Lake. Sudeshna Banerjee
On his opponent being a political novice: I have defeated well-known political heavyweights as well in the past (Ramala Chakraborty, widow of CPM minister Subhas Chakraborty, whose aide Bose used to be in his initial years). I do not see who my opponent is. My recipe for success is being with people throughout the year.
On BJP: This is a party that tries to dictate what people will eat, what people will wear, and who they will worship. Manush shaak diye bhaat khabe na machh diye, seta manush er byapar. Who is BJP to decide that for them? (BJP candidate) Ekhane IA Market ey machh hatey kore natok kore gyachhe. A fishmonger thought he was looking to sell the fish and offered him space for a stall. The state is not safe in the hands of a party in which leaders called Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay Bankim da (Narendra Modi), confuse between Pt. Ravishankar and Rabindrasangeet (Amit Shah) and think Netaji and Swamiji are the same (Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath). Bengal has produced pioneers and martyrs in the freedom movement. Their ways do not match Bengal’s culture. He is going to Duttabad for the first time in his life and talking of bathrooms. Let him figure out the names of the paras there first. No one can beat them in lecture but nowhere to be found on the field. Mamata Banerjee and Sujit Bose are on the field round the year.
On projects he has done: I have recently completed a Bailey bridge to connect Salt Lake with Kestopur. This is helping people reach VIP Road quickly. I recently opened the 100-bed indoor unit of our Gandhi Seva Hospital in Sreebhumi. People can come for consultation at nominal prices with top-notch doctors. I have also renovated Debi Ghat, where people can spend leisurely afternoons. I have built gates to help identify every neighbourhood along VIP Road in my constituency. I have given Rs 5 lakh each to IA Block and KB Block for their development projects from my MLA fund, as well as to several blocks across Salt Lake. The sub-divisional hospital is now a well-maintained facility, with an ICU, a blood bank, and a fair-price medicine shop.
His sign-off: My serial number on the ballot is four, the same as last time. And the counting too will take place on the fourth (of May).
