CPI(M) Bank is scouting new recruits for potential turnaround in West Bengal

Surrounded by gray-haired party supporters carrying Communist Party of India (Marxist) flags and shouting slogans, the energetic Srijan Bhattacharya weaved through Ward 97 in Kolkata’s Tollygunj, waving to locals. I greeted him. Assilverde Deven (Please bless us.)

Mr Bhattacharya, 31, is one of a number of next-generation candidates fielded by the CPI(M) in key constituencies across West Bengal in the run-up to this year’s Sabah elections. He is running against 31-year-old actress Sajoni Ghosh, president of the West Bengal Trinamool Youth Congress, and Anirban Ganguly of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the urban constituency of Jadavpur. Jadavpur is scheduled to vote for the seventh parliamentary election on June 1.

Jadavpur constituency, once a Leftist stronghold, witnessed a landslide victory for the Trinamool in the 2019 assembly elections. Trinamool candidate and actress Mimi Chakraborty won with 6,88,472 votes, while the CPI(M), headed by party veteran Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, secured 21 per cent of the total vote share.

“We are doing things in a new way, staying true to our political ideology but without the burden of the past,” Srijan Bhattacharya said. hinduism. “When the majority of the population is young, it’s easier to get the message across through communicators who represent that generation and speak that language. That’s the main advantage we have as young candidates,” he said.

As local residents gathered in small numbers to catch a glimpse of Mr. Bhattacharya’s campaign, an elderly woman approached him with a garland in hand. “When we are young, we feel special love and respect from our elders. They have a soft corner for us,” Bhattacharya said.

Bhattacharya said modern tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been part of the CPI(M)’s attempts to attract younger voters for years. “We are also keeping up with the times by using memes, comics and short videos to appeal to young people,” he added. “During the campaign, he sings a song or two or quotes lines from a Hindi movie, which may also help resonate with people.”

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Although young, this is not Bhattacharya’s first election. In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, he lost to Trinamool’s incumbent MLA Becharam Manna from the contentious Singur constituency. Mr. Bhattacharya, a master’s degree holder from Jadavpur University, served as the national secretary of Students’ Federation of India (SFI).

Meanwhile, on May 20, 30-year-old researcher Dipshita Dhar will take on Trinamool heavyweight and three-time Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee in Serampore. “Our young people are going through a huge crisis, so it was natural for us to choose this party,” Dahl said. hinduism. “Eighty-three percent of all unemployed people are of my generation, and we have been speaking out on unemployment and education issues for quite some time,” she said.

Ms. Dhar is joint general secretary of All India SFI. She was the CPI(M) candidate from Bally Assembly constituency in the 2021 state assembly elections, but she lost to Trinamool candidate Rana Chatterjee.

As a youth leader, Dahl believes in acknowledging, accepting and correcting the party’s past mistakes. “There have been some mistakes in the past, but we should be in a position to admit them and make amends. I don’t try to separate it,” she added.

In Tamluk, where polls will be held on May 25, Sayan Banerjee, a 31-year-old advocate of the CPI(M), will face former Trinamool Junior Congress general secretary Devansh Bhattacharya and former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Banerjee. He is scheduled to contest against Gangopadhyay. B.P.B.I. Meanwhile, the man who will face Trinamool’s heavyweight Abhishek Banerjee on June 1 at Diamond Harbor is CPI(M)’s Pratiqur Rahman (33), who lost to Trinamool’s Pannalal Halder in the 2021 assembly elections. )is.

Rajya Sabha member and CPI(M) veteran Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya expressed full confidence in the party’s young candidate. “They will represent honest politics for the welfare of society, not politics for personal gain,” he said.

He says it was unwise not to acknowledge the biological limitations of the old guard. “Of course, we rely on our veteran guards because of their experience and guidance, but we need to bring young guards to the forefront,” Bhattacharyya added.