Susmita: In mother’s footsteps

Bankura, May 5: The CPM has chosen a daughter to succeed her mother as MP.

Susmita Bauri is making her debut from Vishnupur, a seat her mother has won thrice. The 29-year-old has not fought an election before, not even in college where she was associated with the SFI. She holds no party post, having become a member just about a year ago. Had she not been nominated, she might have been married by now.

But the daughter of Sandhya Bauri was the “automatic choice” of the CPM headquarters and the district leadership in Bankura, about 160 km from Calcutta. This is the first time the party has chosen a daughter or a son to succeed an MP.

The CPM denies the charge of dynasty politics. “You may say that, like other parties, the CPM too is going in for a direct family descendent as a candidate for the election. But that was the last criterion we thought of,” claims district secretary Amiya Patra.

“There are many instances in the country where the parents’ profession and natural talent are passed on to the child and genes are an important factor,” he says. “But the real reason is we needed a woman scheduled caste candidate from the party in Parliament. This role was played by Sandhya Bauri but she is ill.”

Apart from fulfilling the requirement, her daughter is young and educated. “Being a practising lawyer for four years, she has the capability to argue and debate as well,” says Patra. At 29, she is young and can be moulded by the party. “There was no better candidate.”

But a section of the district committee did not think so. Susmita’s nomination created a stir in party circles, especially among the grassroots workers, when it was announced in January.

Vishnupur is a sure seat for the CPM. Unlike neighbouring Burdwan, where the Trinamul Congress won some seats in the Assembly polls, the CPM has held its own in Bankura. In the panchayat elections of 2003, Vishnupur had the largest number of seats in the state where the CPM was elected unopposed.

Sandhya, the Vishnupur MP who won by 181,570 votes in 1999 and 173,241 votes in 1998, was “not so popular” with colleagues.

“Like her mother, Susmita is virtually a non-entity even in the district CPM circle. She started visiting the district party office after she was nominated. She is an unknown face even in Raniband, the Assembly segment where her home village Khatra is situated. Only our party can take such a risk of nominating a candidate like Susmita,” said a district committee member of the CPM.

A section of party leaders wanted Baidyanath Chand, a district committee member and popular local leader, to contest when the party decided to drop Sandhya, who is unwell. Some leaders approached Patra as well, asking him to fight the election. But he declined and the protests were “taken care of”.

Fifty-three-year-old Sandhya, who has difficulty walking, is happy her daughter is taking her place. “They saw that my movement had become restricted and offered the change,” she says. “I am guiding her wherever and whenever I can.” But the two have yet to start joint campaigning.

The day results are declared, Susmita is likely to become the youngest party MP. Does the prospect of fighting for the votes of 10.5 lakh people and becoming MP daunt her?

“Yes, I do feel a bit overawed and intimidated at times. But I have been seeking the advice of leaders like Amiya da and Partha da (Partha De, former health minister). After the election, I’ll seek Basudev babu’s assistance (veteran MP Basudev Acharya),” she says.

Susmita admits she was surprised when told she had been nominated. “I didn’t expect a chance to fight for the party so soon. I guess my exposure to party matters and leaders from a young age when they used to visit my mother had a role. My father, Nemai Charan Bauri, is a senior auditor with AG Bengal and is also a member of the party unit at his office.”

Her three sisters, one of whom is married, are thrilled. “Had I not been picked by the party, I guess I would have been married, being the eldest. Now marriage will have to wait a bit,” Susmita adds, not ruling it out during her later years in the House. She doesn’t mind an arranged marriage, “but the final choice will be mine”.