Newcomers Vaishali Dalmiya, Shukla draw inspiration from Mamata

Two new Trinamool Congress candidates who look poised to score well in the political arena in the upcoming Assembly elections in Bengal are Vaishali Dalmiya and all-rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla—contesting from Bally and Howrah North respectively. 

While Vaishali, the daughter of veteran cricket administrator, Jagmohan Dalmiya wants girl children from her constituency Bally-Belur-Liluah to make handicrafts that will be hawked through Flipkart, Shukla is keen to develop sports facilities in Howrah where he also resides. 

A veteran when it comes to social work, Vaishali told Millennium Post that she would introduce a number of CSIR activities by corporate bodies if she is voted to power. “Bally has already seen a lot of development in the recent past. Basic facilities like water, roads, electricity, healthcare are already been taken care of by the State government. “There are other necessities like providing BPL cards to those don’t have one, installing a siren at a burning ghat so that people become alert during high tide in the Ganges. Basically, I want to solve people’s problems here”, said Dalmiya, who was inspired by her father to take part in welfare activities. 

So did the transition from a corporate role to donning a public and political hat come easy to this first time Trinamool candidate? “I already run a trust called Mission Ullas for the downtrodden and the rural poor. I have worked in two villages in South 24 Paraganas where a number of girls in schools have benefitted from schemes like Kanyashree. I think the Trinamool Congress is doing a lot of work for the rural poor. I would like to take it forward, both in my administrative and personal capacity if I am elected” said Dalmiya. Legendary Indian cricket team skipper Sourav Ganguly is also expected to canvass for Dalmiya.

The veteran all-rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla who retired from cricket last year and is contesting from North Howrah, is already neck-deep in door to door meetings and will soon hold big rallies scheduled in his constituency.

Shukla, who played 137 first-class matches and scored 6217 at an average of 36.93 including nine centuries and 37 fifties, told Millennium Post that he joined politics because he was inspired by the Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee. “She has struggled all her life and worked hard for the welfare of the people. I hope s}he will be there for one of my rallies soon”, he said. 

A recipient of the Lala Amarnath Award for the best all-rounder in domestic limited-over cricket for the 2011-12 season, Shukla is a believer in destiny so far as his career in politics is concerned. In the 2011 Assembly polls, both these seats were won by the Trinamool Congress. Interestingly, the ruling party has fielded other star candidates from the world of sports this time, like former Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia((from Siliguri) and fellow footballer Rahim Nabi from Pandua respectively.