Surya Kanta to face tough challenge in Narayangarh seat

In 2016 Assembly elections, from psephologists to media persons and leaders of political parties have attached more importance on statistics and not on human freedom to select their candidates.

If we follow them, then CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Misra will face a tough fight in Narayangarh Assembly seat. Misra had initially opposed the proposal to contest from this seat. But he was later forced to accept as election managers at Alimuddin Street thought that fielding his candidature from any other seat would not go well and would be interpreted as “accepting defeat”.

Misra will be contesting against Pradyut Ghosh of Trinamool Congress.

In 2011, Misra defeated TMC-Congress alliance candidate Suryakanta Adhya by 7,109 votes. Misra got 89,804 votes while Adhya got 82,695. BJP candidate Krishna Prasad Roy got 5,345 votes. 

But after the elections, the party offices in Narayangarh were closed and even Misra stopped going to the area. Many CPI(M) workers joined the TMC and the party’s organisation was badly affected.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress-led state government began development work in the area. But relation with the Congress got strained and they got separated. However, the Lok Sabha poll was contested in this backdrop.

Trinamool Congress fielded actor Sandhya Roy from Midnapore Parliamentary seat. While Left Front fielded Prabodh Panda and Congress fielded Bimal Kumar Raj. BJP’s candidate was Prabhakar Tewari.

Roy got 91,056 votes from Narayandarh segment while her Left Front rival Panda got 64,651 votes. Raj got 4,097 votes and Tewari got 17,550 votes. Thus if the votes of the Left Front and Congress are added up it would be 68,748. Thus, the Trinamool candidate got 23,306 votes more than her Left Front rival.

CPI(M) workers in the area admit that it would be difficult for Misra to cover up the deficit and it would be a tough fight. But brushing aside the apprehension of the comrades, Misra is back to his old form and is showing his arrogance and shameless ego during political speeches and press conferences. Misra as the state health minister and land and land reforms minister was infamous for his arrogance. Even the ministers of Left Front partners like RSP and Forward Bloc and CPI seldom talked to him. 

After the poll debacle in 2011, Misra was made the leader of Opposition as Left Front did not have any choice. For four years he behaved well with press and people. But once the unofficial alliance between the Congress and the CPI(M) was formed, he got back to his old form of showing utmost disrespect to people.