‘If I’m a celeb, I’ve earned it, taking on Neros of our times’

• The Congress has many deserving candidates. Yet it chose to field you against Mamata Banerjee. Don’t you think this is rather un...

• The Congress has many deserving candidates. Yet it chose to field you against Mamata Banerjee. Don’t you think this is rather unfair on the Congressman who has worked all his life for the party, steadily rising from the ranks of the party worker? Should we allow celebrity status to make it that much easier to get a ticket?
Jaideep Bose

I hope in the near future you will change your opinion of me. In the opinion of the leaders of the Congress they have chosen me as the deserving candidate as I have worked from the grass-root level and steadily risen from the ranks of the party as a committed Congress worker, and have proved myself in my capacity as a representative of the party. As a Congress worker, I have earned my celebrity status, if you wish to call it that, taking on ‘‘the Neros of modern times’’, as the Supreme Court of India has called Narendra Modi.

• Mamata Banerjee is a formidable opponent for any politician, let alone an amateur one. What then prompted you to take up the challenge when the result is a foregone conclusion?
Devraj Rakshit

It is strange that you think Mamata to be a formidable opponent. Mamata Banerjee has allied with the communal BJP and has opened the doors to RSS agents in Bengal, who will try to polarise Bengal on caste and religious lines. This is what has prompted me to take on this challenge as Bengal is my home. Trinamool, through its NDA alliance, has protected the Narendra Modi government. Mamata, with her flip-flop politics, has let down the youth, women and the common man of Bengal.

The fact is that 26 years of the ruling Communist government and seven years of Trinamool cannot bring economic progress to Bengal. The Congress is the only party that has given economic growth and social harmony to Bengal. I feel the tide is running against them. I pray that the people will give me the opportunity to work for the progress of Bengal. Recall Priyaranjan Das Munshi had won against the seasoned revolutionary Ganesh Ghosh in his first elections and Mamata Banerjee also won against stalwart Somnath Chatterjee. So, the writing is already on the wall.

• Mamata has a strong grass-roots appeal. In contrast, you are seen as the ‘‘socialite outsider’’. Realistically, how do you view your chances?
Sreeshaj Sreedhar

If it is assumed that Mamata has a grass-root appeal, what has she done for the people within her constituency, other than a few handouts? She has promised job opportunities while being a Railway Minister, but left the ministry leaving the grass-root people in large without hope. Only for being a Chief Minister, she joined hands with the Congress in the Assembly elections and when her ambition was not achieved, she stomped off and went to the NDA to seek power. Mamata is propagating the statement of my being a ‘‘socialite outsider’’, but the fact is that this is not an MLA election but an MP election where the people of each state will vote for their representative in Parliament. An MP works in Delhi and luckily for me I already have a home there. Tell me how many MPs come from the city they live in—Advani, Vajpayee, Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Smriti Iraani? Kolkata is my home. I was born here, I grew up here, went to school here. I married an army officer and India became my home. But my heart and roots are in Kolkata. My ancestral home is in a village outside Kolkata and I work through my social service for the masses.

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• Recently, many film/TV stars have taken the political plunge. But politics is a totally different ball game from films/serials, where you have a given script and a director to coach you through the lines. Please comment.
Anil Shantaram Gudekar

Since politicians are the representatives of the people, their aim after being elected is to work as public servants like MLAs and MPs. So if an established personality wants to commit and take the political plunge, then in a democracy, he too has his right. I am strongly opposed to stars jumping on a bandwagon to enhance a political leader or party. As a role model in the society, you need to understand the politics of a party. Personally, I would like to point out that I am a social worker, and I have been one for the last 24 years, more so in the last 10 years. I have a trust called Action India through which we care for people living with HIV/ AIDS. Sewa is my dharma and I want to work through my position as an MP to serve the nation on a broader platform.

• Don’t you think you could have achieved much more for the people as a social worker than as a politician?
Probir Kumar Bose

At last a question that is gentle. I have worked continuously for so many years as a social worker, as a social activist, as a mother who has enveloped her arms around the children of thousands I work with. But, for social reform, and to serve the people with dedication as I do, I sincerely believe that to bring change in our present political scenario, we need accountable, sincere, committed leadership. And this is the part I want to play. If I do not get the mandate of the people of South Kolkata, it will be a loss to the social reforms that I want to bring. To vote for me is to vote for the Congress, which guarantees economic growth that benefits all sections of our society, bringing prosperity to urban and rural India.