MP’s researcher husband vs former MP’s aggressive wife

Tomalika Ponda Seth,wife of former Haldia MP and local CPM strongman Lakshman Seth,is already the sitting MLA. Aggression has been the key to her campaign. Lashman Seth continues to be blamed for most of what went wrong in Nandigram; his wife says the Singur agitation too should have been crushed by the police.

Dr Ghosh Dastidar was a student of Dr Subhas Mukherjee,pioneer of test-tube births in India. After his mentor,he carried on work in the field of IVF but says the Left placed obstacles. The veteran of 16 world congresses says that in 1992,when he was with the state-run R G Kar Hospital,he sought land for a research centre but was turned down because he was not a leftist.

“Doctor or researcher,artiste or poet,no one was spared if he or she opposed left ideology. My plunge into active politics is a challenge. I have promised modern techniques in healthcare and to set up good research institutes in the state,” he says.

The party has nominated him in place of Buddhadeb Bhowmik,who had run Tomalika Seth close in the last election,losing by 3,000 votes. Bhowmik is a household name locally while Dr Ghosh Dastidar is based in Kolkata. “I was disappointed initially but Didi’s wish is final,” Bhowmik says. “The doctor has been given the seat and I must help him.”

Tomalika Seth says any competition she might have faced would have come had Bhowmik been her opponent. Her arrogance has reportedly upset the party leadership,too. Nandigram may have put the CPM top brass on the defensive but Tomalika Seth calls it “a conspiracy of the Trinamool Congress and the Maoists to malign the CPM and stop development”.

Many residents are upset with her because she allegedly never turns up when she is needed. They say she had made 42 promises,such as rural electrification and rejuvenation of Hijli Tidal Canal,the area’s only agricultural lifeline,but not one of these has been kept in the last five years.

Dr Ghosh Dastidar’s promises,too,can mean a lot to locals if fulfilled. “My husband died a few months ago as the health facilities here are abysmal; there are no ICUs. He died on the way to Kolkata. We are pinning a lot of hope on the Trinamool candidate,” says Sumitra Adhikary,a school headmistress.

Mahishadal consists of 11 village panchayats and four of Haldia’s community development blocks. About 27 per cent of the 188,000 voters are Muslim.