He was adept at outwitting rival defenders as a football striker and wrongfooting doubting Thomases who tried to abort his playing career on health grounds. Now battling heavy odds on an unfamiliar pitch, former Indian soccer skipper Dipendu Biswas is relying on these qualities to sail through his maiden electoral battle.
Nominated by West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress as a candidate for Saturday's Basirhat (South) assembly by-poll, Biswas faces an uphill task.
The by-election takes place in the backdrop of the Saradha chit fund scam probe, where the CBI has arrested or grilled a host of Trinamool leaders. Besides, the BJP candidate had finished first in the Basirhat (South) segment with a lead of 30,000 plus votes over the Trinamool nominee in the May general elections.
But Biswas, who turns 34 only 17 days from now, seems confident of making up the huge deficit.
"I am a son of the soil of Basirhat (a sub-division of Kolkata's neighbouring North 24-Parganas district). The Lok Sabha polls took place four months back. The situation has changed. People are coming back to us," Biswas told IANS in an interview.
Having scored 245 goals at the national and international levels during his long playing career, Biswas is gearing up to shine in his new role with the same level of honestry and dedication with which he played soccer.
"I used to practice and practice. I used to wake up as early as 2.30 a.m. and cycle eight kilometres to the railway station to catch the 3.30 a.m. train for Kolkata to attend the morning practice sessions with the big clubs. I want to serve the people as a legislator with the same level of sincerity and probity," said Biswas.
A graduate of 1995 batch of the Tata Football Academy, Biswas plied his trade for teams like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Mohammedan Sporting and Mahindra United. He holds the distinction of having captained the under-19, under-21 and senior Indian squads.
But during the brief stint in politics, Biswas has found it a "tougher turf" than soccer.
"Both are team games. In a football match, you play against one rival team. But during elections, all other candidates are your rivals simultaneously."
The political greenhorn advances the same logic to dodge a query as to whom does he consider his main opponent during Saturday's elections - Samik Bhattacharya of the BJP, Mrinal Chakraborty of the CPI-M, or Asit Majumdar of the Congress. The death of CPI-M's Narayan Mukherjee, who won the seat in 2011, has necessitated the by-poll.
The five-cornered contest also has an SUCI-C candidate, but the party does not have much of a base in the area.
The Trinamool may be facing the opposition fire over the muti-crore-rupee Saradha scam, but Biswas says the scandal would have no impact on the two current by-polls to the assembly.
Terming Banerjee as his political idol, the young man says, "I agreed to join politics only because she requested. I consider her honest. And people know the level of honesty with which I played soccer".
Biswas says his aim is to usher in development in Basirhat. "I want to do my bit to solve the problems of drinking water and drainage. I want to start soccer coaching camps for the talented local boys."
Before Biswas, two other soccer stalwarts of the country recently tried their hand at electoral politics on Trinamool ticket. While Prasun Banerjee has won the Lok Sabha polls twice, Bhaichung Bhutia bit the dust in the general elections this year.
"I have spoken to both. They encouraged me to join politics. I've got valuable tips from them," Biswas told IANS.
Biswas had a chequered career in soccer. He got accolades plenty. But simultaneously, he was often sidelined and even asked to quit the game for suffering from a congenital heart disease.
"...The fighter in me comes out whenever there is adversity. I gave a befitting reply to all these doubting Thomases on the field. I want to soldier on in politics with the same kind of fighting ability," Biswas signed off.
(Sirshendu Panth can be contacted at sirshendu.p@ians.in)
