By Sirshendu Panth, IANS,
Kolkata : He is taking on the chief minister whom he used to address as “Sir”. Today, former West Bengal chief secretary Manish Gupta is confident of pulling off a sensational upset when a red bastion goes to the polls Wednesday.
“It is for the voters to decide who will win. But from what I have seen on the street, I am hopeful I will win,” Gutpa told IANS while campaigning in Jadavpore, a constituency on Kolkata’s outskirts where Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has won five times consecutively with huge margins since 1987.
The Communists have never lost in Jadavpore. But Gupta, a handpicked candidate of Trinamool Congress, said he was enjoying the campaign, “having walked over 400 km through the lanes and bylanes”.
“Look, I am not a politician. I want to utilise my 40 years of experience as an administrator to work for developing the area. I have done so earlier as a career bureaucrat,” said the army man-turned-bureaucrat who retired in 2001 as chief secretary, a few months after Bhattacharjee took over as chief minister from Jyoti Basu.
Gupta, known for his strong personality at times bordering on arrogance when he strode the corridors of the state secretariat, stills retains his flamboyance and style.
Even at 70, he is fit, slim and looks 20 years younger than his actual age.
Can he adjust to the vastly different world of politics where ability to communicate well with the masses is a prime requirement?
“As a bureaucrat I have played many roles. So I don’t think this will be a problem,” said Gupta, whose formal shirts and natty suites have now given way to khadi, with a scarf in Trinamool colours hanging around his neck.
He never mentions the chief minister by name even while criticising him. “That is not my style. It’s a question of policy. We are only telling people what we will do and why.”
In his campaign meetings, Gupta – perhaps aware that he is taking on one of the brightest stars of Bengal politics – always begins with an anecdote that brings out that he is no mean achiever. His rapport with the audience established, he proceeds to attack the chief minister for non-performance.
“For 24 years, you have been voting for a person who has been chief minister for 10 years. Across India, the chief minister’s constituency in every state sees massive development as they nurse their constituencies.
“But the complaint against this person is he has finished off whatever was fine earlier. Industries are closed. Drinking water, health, infrastructure has collapsed. The administration is not running, it is hobbling.”
Then he reels out promises, with the effortless air of a seasoned administrator.
“We will ensure proper distribution of Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards within a month. Within two years, all households will get drinking water. We will set up two new government hospitals.
“Most important, we will ensure they are viable. Also there will be 10-12 new schools in the area in five years. That is not difficult.”
He refused to draw comparisons between the three chief ministers he worked with — Siddhartha Shankar Ray, Basu and Bhattacharjee.
“In the public sector, one does not rate his superiors. They all stewarded the state in different time periods. I worked with them in different phases of my life. It is for you people to judge.”