Hiya, the daughter of tourism minister Manab Mukherjee, and Saptarshi, the son of housing minister Goutam Deb, rejoice after the SFI victory. Pictures by Biswarup Dutta

Saptarshi Deb, the son of a CPM minister, and Hiya Mukherjee, the daughter of another, have led the party’s student arm to election victory in the college several years after two young girls of the same red lineage did so.

Since Ajanta, the daughter of the late Anil Biswas, then CPM state secretary, and Suchetana, the daughter of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, played leading roles in the wins in 2002 and 2003, the Students Federation of India has been losing the polls in Presidency till this year.

The star children — both third-year students — graciously credited teamwork for the comeback.

“This year’s election is the result of the hard work put in by all the SFI unit members. Even during Ajanta-di’s time, it was because of the strong unit that we had won,” said Saptarshi, the son of housing minister Goutam Deb and a student of political science, sporting a Che Guevara locket dangling over a Lee T-shirt.

The SFI won 38 seats against 34 for its rival camp, Independents’ Consolidation (IC), which had thrown itself into the campaign against land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram.

“We knew we would win,” added Hiya, tourism minister Manab Mukherjee’s daughter who studies physics.

Victory tastes all the more sweet as it comes after six years, the SFI having lost the 2008 election by a whisker with only two seats less than the IC-led combine. The names of Hiya and Saptarshi had got dragged into the post-poll clashes that year.

“Probably they learnt how to woo the students and made it possible this year,” said a senior SFI leader in Calcutta University.

Did they get a lesson or two in campaigning from their parents who have mastered the art of winning elections over a quarter century and some?

Manab Mukherjee, whose wife Ishita is also a CPM leader, smiled at the suggestion. “Ours is a political family and my daughter grew up in a CPM-SFI environment. Her political ideology may have been influenced by us,” said Mukherjee.

“But we always tried to make her aware that she is just like any other SFI supporter,” said Mukherjee explaining that the dynasty principle did not work in the CPM.

So it doesn’t, it seems. Neither Ajanta, who now teaches history in Rabindra Bharati University, nor Suchetana, who is involved with an NGO, Aranyak, has carried their student activism into party politics.

Saptarshi, the secretary of the college SFI, and Hiya did not contest the polls, choosing to campaign instead, following in the footsteps of Suchetana. Ajanta was a candidate when she was a third-year student in 2002.

SFI leaders in Presidency believe the IC’s anti-industry stand evident from its activism in Nandigram and Singur had proved unpopular among students, contributing to its defeat.

CPM leaders agree. Mohammad Selim, MP, said: “It underlines the fact that urban, educated and upwardly mobile youth will support our pro-development and forward-looking policies more and more.”

State party secretary Biman Bose interpreted the results as a demonstration of the CPM’s untouched support base among the middle class. While the coming Lok Sabha polls will test these claims, the fact is that the SFI lost the elections in Jadavpur University and Bengal Engineering and Science University.

So what made Presidency turn — star pull?