Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, contesting from Jadavpur constituency, a southern Kolkata suburb, has now resorted to staging padayataras (marches).

In this area he is locked in an unusual and intriguing battle, against someone who had served him earlier as the state’s Chief Secretary: Mr. Manish Gupta. This must be one of the rarest such encounters in India, say observers.

As expected, Bhattacharjee avoids mentioning his opponent as far as he can, while Gupta too does not attack him personally. Both attack the TMC and the CPI(M) respectively. Gupta at times explains why the administration functions so poorly, by pointing to specific steps that needed to be taken, drawing upon his wide experience. He calls for more development, while Bhattacharjee tried to defend the achievements of the Left front.

Bhattacharjee, unlike other years, has remained anchored in his own constituency, doing the bulk of campaigning himself. He has not asked other left leaders to assist his campaign. Taking a leaf out of Ms Mamata Banerjee’s book, he has also began staging roadshows or padayatras. However unlike Ms Banerjee, he desists from walking among the crowds, no doubt on advice from his security personnel. But then in terms of spontaneous behaviour, Ms Banerjee is streets ahead of left leaders in general.

There is a good reason why Bhattacharjee has been carrying out such a determined campaign. To begin with, younger voters, the second and third generations of east Bengal refugees settled in the area, have moved away from their traditional protectors, the left parties. Mostly educated, these youths want development and jobs, two areas where the Left front has not been able to deliver. And Ms Banerjee has also staged a roadshow to help Gupta’s campaign in Jadavpur.

Analysing the post 2009 Lok Sabha polls situation, left leaders found that Left votes were now 5000 behind the votes polled by the TMC at Jadavpur. That and the general erosion of support for the left in south 24 Parganas as a whole, has made this year’s election so critical for the Chief Minister. However, most observers expect him to pull through, even if Gupta, not a local, may put up a good fight.

Meanwhile, the man regarded among the Left only as second in importance to Bhattacharjee, Mr. Gautam Deb, Minister for Housing, is contesting from Dum Dum. He won earlier from Basirhat, but the leadership made him change his constituency. CPI(M) insiders admit that Deb was not happy in his new constituency, but the shift was necessary to revive the party organisation at Dum Dum, where the dramatist Bratya Basu is the TMC candidate.

Insiders also hint at some confusion within the party over his switch to Dum Dum where the left students” organisation, the SFI had won most of the students” elections anyway.

Both Deb and Basu have not been polite to each other in their campaign. Deb’s worry is also over the erosion of traditional left support in North 24 Parganas as a whole, as is evident during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. CPI(M) stalwarts like Amitava Nandi and Tarit Topdar lost by good margins to relative newcomers put up by the TMC. And despite their efforts, left parties have not been able to turn things around very much since 2009 in terms of their governance. However, Deb has won some hearts among the people over his spirited defence of the establishment and development of the new Rajarhat township, braving a determined TMC onslaught against him and the government.

In fact, Deb has since emerged as the greatest crowd puller for the left in Bengal,. His opponent Basu, was earlier close to the Left parties but got disillusioned after the Singur and Nandigram incidents. He enjoys some support from a section of intellectuals and with the TMC’s support, should put up a good fight against Deb. All in all, two good intriguing contests are in the offing at Jadavpur and Dum Dum.(IPA Service)