For Howrah's residents who appeared to have forfeited hope due to years of inertia and steady slide to morbidity, the frenzied activity must seem overwhelming enough to give Trinamool candidate Prasun Banerjee a thumping victory at the Lok Sabha election. But the former football star is not taking anything for granted.
"The match isn't won until the refree blows the final whistle," says Banerjee, betraying the doubt that haunts the defender with less than three days before Howrah goes to poll. Banerjee, who beat CPM candidate Sridip Bhattacharya by 26,975 votes in last year's by-elections, has prepared a booklet that lists how his MPLAD fund has contributed to Howrah's three-month metamorphosis. "No other MP can match the spending that I have achieved in eight months. And no one has certainly walked as much as I have during this election campaign," he says.
Banerjee claims his chance appears brighter and more assuring than it did a year ago because people have now seen him 'walk the talk'. But he is not taking any chances. "My opponents are no pushovers," he admits.
It isn't just CPM's Bhattacharya, Banerjee also has BJP's George Baker and Congress's Manoj Pandey that Banerjee has in mind when he talks of 'opponents'. Party infighting has his campaign managers worried. After he became MP, Banerjee aligned himself with irrigation minister Rajib Banerjee and Howrah Municipal Corporation MMiC (development) Bibhas Hazra to get work done in a hurry. In doing so, he became part of the anti-Arup Roy camp. As party activists point out, Roy who holds the agriculture marketing portfolio in the Mamata Banerjee government may not be as dynamic as Rajib Banerjee as minister but he is a man to reckon with in Howrah.
"Most of the development from MP-LAD funds has happened in wards of Rajib Banerjee's men like ward 9 (Bibhas Hazra), ward 32 (Parthajeet Ghosh) and ward 50 (Trilokesh Mondal). Councillors close to Roy haven't seen as much development. Shibpur MLA Jatu Lahiri is also miffed as no work has been done in his constituency. If Roy's men don't work for Banerjee, he will find the going tough in several Assembly segments," said a party leader.
Aware of the brewing discontent, Mamata has asked leaders of both camps to ensure victory in Howrah, a seat that she has projected as prestigious since the state's administrative headquarters Nabanna is situated here. She has also warned of disciplinary action if the result isn't favourable.
If the threats have the desired effect, Banerjee has more than a fighting chance of retaining the seat.
But CPM and BJP are thorns that Banerjee's team cannot wish away. CPM has managed to claw back some of the lost ground and may even benefit from the anti-Trinamool Congress sentiment brewing in certain quarters over Saradha ponzy scheme as well as Ramkrishnapur and Kasundia cooperative bank scams. The cooperative banks had Trinamool Congress men on their board, a fact that both CPM and BJP are flagging at their campaigns. Prasun Banerjee is hoping his clean image will cancel out the negatives.
Crucially, CPM has managed to win back a section of Muslims (who comprise 24% of the electorate in the district) who had deserted the party in the 2011 Assembly polls. At last year's civic elections, CPM retained minority dominated wards 31 (Sandhyanagar and PM bustee in south Howrah that has Urdu speaking Muslims) and 46 (added area Unsani that has Bengali speaking Muslims). In ward 20 (Tikiapara that has Urdu speaking Muslims), Congress won. Though Congress isn't really in the race, Manoj Pandey is expected to retain t he 90,000-odd committed voters that the party has always had in the district.
CPM is also trying to queer the pitch in Trinamool strongholds Panchla and Sankrail, where it is telling zari workers how Mamata's decision to turn the garment hub into the secretariat, Nabanna, has snuffed out 20,000 job opportunities.
CPM district secretary Biplab Majumdar believes Bhattacharya will give Banerjee a fight to the finish and may even sneak through if BJP's George Baker weans away votes from Trinamool. "There is no denying BJP will pull votes. Banerjee benefited at the by-election because BJP did not field a candidate. BJP plans to ease gold import may also find favour with goldsmiths who have a presence in rural Howrah," said Majumdar.
Baker hopes to be a key actor at the elections than just a spoiler. "I have got excellent response from the people of Central Howrah, North Howrah, Bally, Sankrail and Panchla. People are fed up with Congress at the Centre, CPM's ten ure in the state and the present Trinamool government that is both corrupt and inept. I believe a lot of people want to give BJP and Narendra Modi a chance. I have given people of Howrah a lot of hope," he said.
BJP has a committed 9-10% votebank that may swell, particularly among a section of youth who are enamoured by prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. The party that has always won a seat or two in civic polls did a giant kill last year when CPM's Mamta Jaiswal as mayor lost to BJP candidate Geeta Rai in north Howrah's ward 13.
CPM's Majumdar isn't surprised at a section of the youth being sold on Modi's promise to magically boost the economy and create employment. "The youth are frustrated with no jobs in sight in the state. Remember, Hitler too influenced the young," he says.
Prasun Banerjee isn't too anxious about Modi magic in Bengal. "Here, there's only one magic: Mamata," he says. Mamata is trying her best to cast a spell with back to back c ampaigns in the final leg of electioneering in Howrah. But crowds have been modest, perhaps due to the searing heat. But one thing's certain, come Wednesday and the electorate in Howrah will brave the blazing sun to vote in numbers.
Total Electorate in Howrah constituency: 15,04,439
2009 Lok Sabha election
CPM: 44.27%
Trinamool Congress: 48%
BJP: 3.79%
2011 Assembly election
CPM: 37%
Trinamool Congress: 54%
BJP: 4.75%
2013 civic elections
Left Front: 26.51%
Trinamool Congress: 52.64%
BJP: 6.99%
Congress: 11.55%
2013 Lok Sabha byelection
CPM: 41.67%
Trinamool Congress: 44.67%
Congress: 10.14%
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