Bengal: 10 km away, Congress candidate says don’t need star power, I am one of the people

Taking a dig at film personalities campaigning for Trinamool candidates, Dapira said: “I am not a filmstar from Kolkata... I don’t need star campaigners to canvas for me."

WHILE STAR power of Trinamool Congress MP Dev and party candidate Soham Chakraborty was in full view on Tuesday at the Gangajalghati ground in Bankura district, some 10 km away, Left-supported Congress candidate Sampa Daripa was going door-to-door to seek votes.

“I have done whatever I could for the people during my tenure as the chairperson of Bankura Municipality… and thus, I am not going around begging for votes. I am telling people that they have seen how I have worked for them… Now, they should choose accordingly,” said Daripa, a former Trinamool leader and the candidate from Bankura constituency of the district.

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Daripa was the Bankura Municipal chairperson from 2010 till 2015. She was expelled from Trinamool in February for alleged anti-party activities. Daripa claimed she was denied the post of chairperson for the second term in an unfair manner, following which, she decided to quit the party. “The party got a hint about it and without stating any specific reason, expelled me,” she claimed. Daripa had formally joined Congress in the first week of March.

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While campaigning at Arjunpur on Tuesday, she alleged that though Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had promised food and shelter for all, the ground reality is very different. “Many people here don’t get a square meal or have a roof above their heads. People have not got the promised bio-metric ration cards. Whatever little work has been done is riddled with corruption,” Daripa said.

She added: “The houses allotted under Indira Abasan Scheme had been taken over by rich local leaders from Trinamool. The leaders of the ruling party charge anything from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,50,000 from unemployed youths to get them the job of a civic volunteer… People here were surprised to hear that the Mamata government had provided 68 lakh jobs to the unemployed… No one from here was included in the list.”

Taking a dig at film personalities campaigning for Trinamool candidates, Dapira said: “I am not a filmstar from Kolkata… I don’t need star campaigners to canvas for me. I am one of them (the locals), who had worked for them… they know. I am confident they would give me a chance in this election.”

It was learnt the Congress and CPM initially planned to screen the Narada sting video at remote areas of the district but anticipating legal hassles, the parties decided against it. Asked if the news of the sting had reached the grassroots level, Daripa said: “You may speak to anyone in these villages. All know about it.”
When asked, 24-year-old Santanu Singha, a local youth, said: “Thanks to WhatsApp, we know about the sting… every household knows about it,” he said.

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