Kalyan Banerjee, Trinamool Congress
Kalyan Banerjee was one of the young advocates who gathered at the residence of then Youth Congress leader Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata’s Kalighat to provide free legal services to the poor. Kalyan has been a lawyer in the Calcutta High Court since 1980 and remained loyal to Mamata even after she quit her seat and formed the Trinamool Congress in 1998. Since 2009, the Serampore Lok Sabha constituency MP has often gone beyond the bounds of decency and targeted himself and TMC MPs. political rival. His impersonation of Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar caused controversy. Aiming for his fourth victory, the 67-year-old is pinning his hopes on the TMC government’s welfare schemes and development projects in Serampore. However, infighting among local TMC leaders may make his claims strange. He was recently caught on camera asking actor Kanchan Mullick, who has been married three times to a TMC MLA, to stay away from campaigning, expecting a negative reaction from rural women. Kalyan is running against Dipshita Dhar of the CPI(M) and Kabir Shankar Bose of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who also happens to be his daughter’s estranged husband. While Mamata campaigned for Kalyan, her likely successor, TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, avoided Serampore despite holding rallies across the state.
Dipshita Dhar, CPI (M)
Dipshita Dhar, a doctoral scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University, is one of the young leaders the CPI(M) is counting on to revive West Bengal. Born into a left-wing family, Dipshita is now 31 years old and while studying at Kolkata’s Ashutosh University, he joined CPI(M)’s Students’ Federation of India. From demanding justice for Rohith Vemula in Delhi in 2017 to protesting against the Citizenship Act (Amendment) to organizing events in and around Kolkata in support of protesters in Shaheen Bagh in the capital. , she is known among the left as a firebrand activist. She ran in the 2021 parliamentary elections but lost. As the CPI(M) candidate for Serampore Lok Sabha constituency, she has highlighted lack of employment opportunities, the BJP’s “communal politics” and alleged corruption by TMC leaders. The SFI joint secretary alleged that she has done nothing for Serampore even though her rival Kalyan Banerjee of the TMC has been elected from the constituency thrice. Mr. Dipshita and Mr. Kalyan had several wars of words during the election campaign. Kalyan mocked Dipsita by calling her ‘Miss Universe’, but she hit back by calling Dipsita ‘Mr India’.
issued May 18, 2024, 18:09 IST
