Sealdah, Bowbazar by-polls!

As expected, Trinamool Congress, the main opposition party in West Bengal has own both the Sealdah and Bowbazar Assembly seats, where by-polls were held on August 18. Though the pre-poll phase was quite eventful which saw a tussle between the Trinamool Congress and the Congress ( the two parties fought the last Lok Sabha polls in alliance) for fielding their candidates in the seats, the end has been very simple. Shikha Mitra, wife of Soumen Mitra, one of most well known Congressman of North Kolkata has own from Sealdah with a margin of over 15,000 votes and Swarna Kamal Saha has become the MP from Bowbazar with a margin of over 21000 votes.

The victory of both Sikha Mitra and Swarnakamal was almost certain as the rulling Left Front was in no mood to compete. They neither fielded strong candidates nor did heavy campaigning as according to their chairman Biman Bose, the organization in both the constituencies is weak. From the point of view of Trinamool Congress, but have the people of the localities achieved anything. In India, politicians have a ‘reputation’ of turning their backs after winning in polls and when somebody wins it without any competition, obligations are less for him/her to think about the voters. For Mr Saha and Ms Mitra, this victory has been so easily earned that they might not respect the mandate. The chance is very little for them to engage themselves in any developmental activities as there is on one to criticize their performance. Both Bowbazar and Sealdah have always been favourable zones for the Congress and with Trinamool Congress candidates winning from the constituencies, the part has not lost anything.

Winning election is always a big achievement for a candidate but retain the respect among the voters is more challenging. Today, there is a strong anti-establishment atmosphere in the state which has made winning elections easy for the Congress and Trinamool Congress candidates, but what voters judge while casting their votes is what they are getting from the MPs or MLAs that they have elected previously. If the performance is not satisfactory, next time they might give their mandate against them.
So it’s better for Ms Mitra and Mr Saha to show real respect to the mandates they have got by doing something that prove to be beneficial for the local people.