Key Contests: Ajit Panja vs Mousumi Chatterjee

MANDATE 2004/LS COSTITUENCY WATCH - West Bengal

Nobody nurtures a constituency like Ajit Panja. A six-time Lok Sabha member, Panja keeps regular contacts with his voters in the Kolkata North-West constituency, through a poll machinery that keeps working even after elections are over.

This time, however, Panja is facing a stiff challenge from the glamorous Congress candidate Mousumi Chatterjee, the popular actress of yesteryears.

Besides a string of past successes in Bengali in Hindi movies, Chatterjee is a Kolkata-born candidate and the daughter-in-law of the legendary singer Hemanta Mukherjee.

Panja seems to be nonchalant. "I have faith in the people of my constituency. They have blessed me for so many years. I always have stood by their side," he said, just back from an early morning campaign where he used a "dhak" (drum), to attract voters and air his views.

Statistics also speaks about Panja's involvement with his voters. He spent Rs 17.43 crore (108 per cent) under the MP Local Area Development programme in last five years, "more than Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee".

Mousumi, however, says she is yet to see any "good work". "Politicians make big promises, but nothing has happened in the last 23 years," she says.

Asked what prompted her to fight against a formidable rival like Panja, Mousumi claims only she was brave enough to offer to slug it out.

Md Salim, CP(I)M candidate, is also a heavyweight and a state minister. "Nobody was ready to fight. They were scared but I have decided to fight the battle," Chatterjee told Business Standard.

Moreover, it was her zeal for social work which prodded her to take up the challenge. "It is difficult for me to keep up the good work with the money I earn from films. If backed up by government funding, I will be able to do much more," she said.

Chatterjee is furious with Panja's snide remarks about her. "Panja has published a booklet where he has called me a seasonal, fair-weather bird who won't be seen after the polls. This goes to show that he is scared of me," she complained. Panja has punned on Chatterjee's name, Mousumi, which is close the Bengali words for "fair-weather" and "seasonal".

Political observers, however, feel Chatterjee will not have any significant impact as Kolkata is still and probably the only TMC bastion left in the state. "After the birth of Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 1998, all the three Lok Sabha (LS) constituencies of Kolkata went from Congress (I) to TMC.

This time Congress has fielded two new candidates, who are outsiders to the city, even at the cost of antagonising local workers and netas, to regain the lost glory," they point out.

Panja beat Salim, the state minister for minority welfare, by 41,574 votes last time. This year too, Panja sees Left Front as his main opposition and he has attacked Salim for playing the communal card.

"Selim is making false promises to Muslim voters. He is distributing carom boards in local clubs. He has promised to set up a housing complex only for Muslims. He has promised to issue new liquor licences, a state monopoly, if elected," Panja complained.

As for Mousumi, Panja says: "She is from the field of culture. I hope she teaches that to the Left Front and to her own party." "This year the voter is looking at performance and development. I am seeking a re-election for the good work I have done. Every detail is recorded in the website www.ajitpanja.com." he adds.