Howrah Parliamentary Constituency

Name: Prasun Banerjee

Party: All India Trinamul Congress

Age: 59

Address: 101 (Block A), SD Tower, Prafulla Kanan (West), Calcutta 700 101

Education: BSc

Profession: Social worker

Hobby: Games, sports and music

Experience: Played football for 20 years in Calcutta Maidan, was the captain of Mohun Bagan Athletic Club

Election Agenda: Development of the added areas of Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) and the fringe areas of Howrah town is Banerjee’s top priority. He wants to allot money from his Local Area Development Fund (LADF) for building roads, drains, supplying drinking water and putting up streetlights in the added areas and fringe areas of HMC. “Though the Left Front (LF) was in power at HMC for 29 years, it did nothing for the development of the added areas. HMC’s jurisdiction was increased only for political gain. I shall try my best to build infrastructure in the added areas,” Banerjee said.

Name: George Baker

Party: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Age: 68

Address: Sujata Apartment, 45/C/K Moor Avenue

Education: Indian School Leaving Certificate (Senior Cambridge). Two years diploma course

Profession: Acting

Hobby: Listening to music

Experience: Associated with the Indian National Congress (INC) since 1977. Later, he quit to join BJP.

Election Agenda: If he is elected to Parliament, he will use the LADF for development of roads, ensuring supply of drinking water and build proper drainage system to free Howrah town of waterlogging. He will also use the fund for development of slums in Howrah, spread education by opening schools for slum children. “The condition of the slums in Howrah is very bad. There are no roads, no drinking water, no drainage system. Slum dwellers are forced to live in inhuman conditions,” he said. Besides, he will also fight for the revival of industries in Howrah.

Name: Manoj Kumar Pandey

Party: Indian National Congress

Age: 42

Address: 25/2 Kshetra Mitra Lane, Howrah

Education: BCom

Profession: Whole time party worker

Hobby: Listening to classical music

Experience: In politics for 25 years since 1987

Election Agenda: Apart from using the LADF for development of infrastructure, he is determined to make revival of industries in Howrah an issue in Parliament, if he is elected. According to him, thousands of small, medium and large scale industries in Howrah remained closed due to the radical labour movement initiated by the Left parties in the late sixties. “There is no dearth of skilled labourers and raw materials in Howrah. So there is no reason why the industries in Howrah cannot be revived,” said Pandey.

Name: Sridip Bhattacharya

Party: Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Age: 58

Address: Q2, 197 Danesh Sheikh Lane, Howrah

Education: Mechanical engineering from erstwhile B E College

Profession: Whole time party worker

Hobby: Reading books on Marxism, political history, and science

Experience: CPM Howrah district secretary from 2002 to 2010. Became CPM state secretariat member in 2010. Fought Howrah parliamentary by-election as a CPM candidate in 2013 for the first time.

Election Agenda: Though Left parties fight elections on national agenda, Sridip Bhattacharya wants to highlight the problems of unorganised labourers of Tikiapara, Dasnagar, Ichhapur and Kadamtala and day labourers and porters in the industrial areas if he is elected to the Parliament from Howrah. “The working class is in great trouble as most of the industrial units are closed in Howrah and they do not have alternative jobs as the present state government has failed to set up a single new industry,” he said.

Uluberia Parliamentary Constituency

Name: Sultan Ahmed

Party: All India Trinamul Congress

Age: 60

Address: Jaduberia, ward 9 of Uluberia Municipality, Uluberia

Education: BA

Profession: Family business

Hobby: Sports and music. He is the president of Mohammedan Sporting Club.

Experience: In politics since 1985. He is the sitting MP from Uluberia and two time MLA from Entally in Calcutta. He was minister of state for tourism.

Election Agenda: He said that he has spent his LADF for building rural infrastructure like roads, playgrounds, school and colleges and electrification of rural Howrah. “During my visit to rural Howrah before the 2009 parliamentary election, I found that a large number of villages were without electricity. So my priority was rural electrification. I made it a point that no village would go without electricity. Now almost all the villages in rural Howrah have electricity,” said Ahmed. He claimed that in the last five years, not a single factory under his constituency has shut down.

Name: Sabiruddin Mollah

Party: Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Age: 39

Address: Jagadishpur, Uluberia, Howrah

Education: BSc

Profession: Whole time party worker

Hobby: Games and sports

Experience: Opposition leader in Uluberia Municipality

Election Agenda: He said that Left parties do not have personal agendas. They fight elections on national issues like public distribution system (PDS), unorganised labour, privatisation of public sector units and many other things related to the people. However, if he is elected from this constituency, he will sanction funds for building schools, colleges and madrasas. Besides, rural electrification and ensuring supply of drinking water will be his main agenda.

Name: Asit Mitra

Party: Indian National Congress

Age: 66

Address: Village & Post- Deulpur, P.S. Bagnan, Howrah

Education: BCom

Profession: Retired teacher

Hobby: Games and sports, reading books on political history and listening to old classical music

Experience: Two time MLA from Kalyanpur Assembly constituency and one time MLA from Amta Assembly constituency. He was the chief whip of Congress Legislative Party (CLP) for five years from 2001 to 2006. He is now one of the general secretaries (GS) of Pradesh Congress Committee.

Election Agenda: He wants to address the perennial flood problem in rural Howrah by highlighting the issue in Parliament if he is elected. “A vast area of Amta, Jaypur and Udaynarayanpur go under water whenever DVC releases water. None of the MPs from Uluberia tried to address this problem though thousands of farmers are affected by the flood. I shall work for a permanent solution to the problem,” said Mitra.

Name: Ranjit Kishore Mohanti

Party: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Age: 68

Address: Diamond City, Taratala, Calcutta

Education: BA, MA in Economics and IPS

Profession: Former DG of Police

Hobby: Photography, gardening, painting and travelling

Experience: Served West Bengal government as Director General (DG) of police

Election Agenda: Apart from using LADF for building rural infrastructure like roads, drinking water, street lights, he wants to raise his voice in Parliament seeking adequate fund for implementing river bank erosion project in Uluberia. Revival of industries in Uluberia is also in his agenda. “Even if I am not elected I shall work for the people of Uluberia,” said Mohanti.