In Hooghly it’s a clash between two cine-stars and a foot soldier

Kolkata: The poll campaign for the Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency will be an interesting watch, considering that this time the main contest is concentrated between two film stars-turned-politicians, with one being the sitting MP and in politics for over a decade and the other being a greenhorn.

While the BJP has re-nominated the sitting MP from Hooghly, Locket Chatterjee, the Trinamool Congress has fielded actress-turned-politician and the anchor of the popular reality show ‘Didi No. 1’, Rachana Banerjee.

On the other hand, also in the field is the CPI(M)’s young state committee member and trade union activist Monodip Ghosh, who like Banerjee, is a first-timer in electoral politics.

In his mid-forties, Ghosh is focusing on his “son of the roots” identity to remain afloat in the battle against his two celebrity competitors.

Before campaigning began in real earnest, both Chatterjee and Banerjee stressed that the electoral battle would never spoil their relations, considering that both have acted in the same movies.

However, since the beginning of her campaign Banerjee, being a greenhorn, has made some puerile comments, which has given her opponents effective weapons in their counter-campaigns.

The first salvo was fired by Banerjee immediately after her nomination was announced by the Trinamool Congress, as she expressed doubts about the real identity of the women at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

The women of the area were protesting against sexual harassment by a section of the local Trinamool Congress leadership there.

Banerjee’s opponents latched on to that comment and attacked her, claiming that this insensitivity against the Sandeshkhali women was the ill-effect of her association with the Trinamool Congress.

The second comment by Banerjee that created controversy related to Singur, the erstwhile hub of the small car project of Tata Motors.

The project hogged national limelight as following a ferocious movement against land acquisition the Tata Group withdrew from it.

While campaigning, Banerjee referred to the role of the Singur movement in ending the 34-year Left Front rule in West Bengal in 2011 and said that the rich history of the movement inspires her.

Her political opponents targeted her for this comment. “The Singur movement might have fulfilled Mamata Banerjee’s dreams to become the Chief Minister of West Bengal, but what is the condition of the people there right now? There is neither industry nor agriculture in Singur,” observed Chatterjee.

Another immature comment by Banerjee has fueled the counter-campaign against her.

She had said, “I am sure that the people of Hooghly are proud to have me among them.”

Her opponents are claiming that such a comment shows her arrogance because Banerjee should have said that “she is feeling proud to be among the people of Hooghly.”

With a voter base of over 16,00,000, Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency has a mix of agricultural and industrial belts.

The now-closed but once thriving tyre-manufacturing factory at Sahagunj is located within the constituency. Large areas under this constituency are deemed the vegetable hub of West Bengal.