There is no denying that the credit for this (if credit is the word) goes to the Trinamool Congress (TMC). For most of the 34 years of its uninterrupted reign in the state, it was always the ruling Left Front that had monopolised the support of intellectuals, educationists, and a section of journalists as well. Some of these people used to issue appeals to people to vote Left in statements they issued jointly. Mostly they belonged to the same crowd that earlier supported Viet Nam in large numbers and later protested against the US interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, their numbers now much reduced. This section of opinion makers, mostly older citizens, are still with the Left.

However, now the TMC also has its own loyalists within the intelligentsia. They include eminent poets like Joy Goswami and Sankha Ghosh, painters Shubhaprasanna and Jogen Choudhury, economists Amit Mitra, Abhirup Sarkar and Sugata Marjit, respected ex civil servants like Manish Gupta and Debabrata Bandopadhyay, dramatists and actors like Bratya Basu, Kaushik Sen and Shaonli Mitra and social activist/writer Mahasweta Devi, among others. The list, formidable by any reckoning, is by no means an exhaustive one. Gupta, Basu and Mitra are contesting as TMC candidates from Jadavpur, Dum Dum and Khardah seats.

It is no different with the print and the electronic media. As a rule, 3 major English dailies and 1 Bengali newspaper still try to maintain an element of neutrality in their coverage. On the other hand, three other Bengali papers toe the TMC line completely, one a smaller publication, along with a smaller English daily. For the Left, there are the CPI and the CPI(M) dailies, and one other medium size Bengali daily, while only one small daily maintains an equidistance.

Among major Bengali news channels, the one with the highest TRP ratings follows a pro-left line, followed by another fairly strong channel. As against them, at least four other channels follow the TMC line hook, line and sinker. The strongest and most “glamorous” channel tends to maintain neutrality, but its efforts do not impress the Left parties, which do not always send their representatives to participate in its programmes. A new younger channel also tries to retain a measure some objectivity. Some of the anchors in these channels behave more as TMC activists than newsmen and are slated for “bigger responsibilities” in case the TMC/Congress form the next government, according to TMC insiders.

It has to be admitted in one sense Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has carried the day. His method of differentiating between Left and non Left supporters as “we” and ”they “ in true Stalinist tradition, has created this kind of sharp, antagonistic divisions among the creative minds . The outcome has not been welcome for the ruling Left, and its monopoly on intellectual support is gone for now.

What is more, Ms Mamata Banerjee, TMC supremo, treats her new intellectual admirers with deference and unfailing courtesy. She seeks their opinion on most issues, and follows their advice and suggestion. The TMC election manifesto in 2011 was largely the work of two economists who now work in her corner.

She nurses this newly won precious constituency in more direct ways. She has pitted Gupta to fight against Bhattacharjee at Jadavpur, Mitra against Ashim Dasgupta at Khardah and Basu against the redoubtable Gautam Deb of the CPI(M). Bhattacharjee is too canny a politician to attack Gupta, a bureaucrat who served under him, directly. But he takes him seriously as a contender, having addressed over 12 meetings at Jadavpur already. He has not called upon other major left leaders to campaign at Jadavpur, where following delimitation proceedings, the left trails non left parties by about 5000 votes.

It is still too early to talk about pre-poll trends, but even a section of left supporters seem worried over the contest at Khardah between high profile economists Ashim Dasgupta and Amit Mitra. Because of the crisis in West Bengal’s economy over the years, Dasgupta at best enjoys a lukewarm support even among party ranks. Left party insiders are disillusioned with the poor performance of the Finance Ministry over the years, as they are with the uninspiring handling of the Health Ministry by the concerned Minister Suryakanta Mishra.

Observers feel that the Dum Dum fight between dramatist Bratya Basu, whom the feisty CPI(M) leader Gautam Deb would rather dismiss as an uppity brat(pun unintended) a political pretender, should prove intriguing. Both have fired their opening salvos and no love seems to be lost between the two.

Meanwhile, TMC’s leader Mamata Banerjee began a padayatra (march) covering some Kolkata areas on Sunday, attracting large gatherings wherever she went. There are plans for more such marches in the days ahead. (IPA)