I am not afraid of Oppn: Raj

KOLKATA: Filmmaker Raj Chakraborty, who is contesting on a Trinamool Congress (TMC) ticket from Barrackpore Assembly constituency, is confident of his victory after being welcomed by voters with open arms.

Chakraborty, who completed his education from Halisahar in Barrackpore, feels that people in his constituency want Mamata Banerjee as the Chief Minister for the third time. His constituency has a mixed population of Hindi and Bengali-speaking communities.

"I have got huge support from the people of this constituency. I know people are petrified with BJP leader Arjun Singh as he himself tries to convey to the people that he is the supreme leader in this constituency. I am not afraid of any Opposition leader, whoever will contest from their party. I respect all of them," he said.

Chakraborty has already started campaigning in his constituency. Going door-to-door, he is trying to project the schemes undertaken by the state government and asking people whether they have faced any difficulty while enrolling themselves in the schemes.

Chakraborty feels that there is no need for uttering unparliamentary words against the Opposition leaders. He believes the work of the government will speak for itself.

During his constituency visit, Chakraborty observed that people there had huge interest in drama and cinema. "They urged us to organise drama in their area once in a month," he said.

Star candidates are brought in to contest seats plagued by a turf war between rival TMC politicians, which makes victory unlikely for a regular political candidate.

Meanwhile, actor Sayantika Banerjee filed her nomination papers on Wednesday in Bankura amid huge crowd of supporters.

On the same day, Javed Khan, TMC candidate from Kasba constituency, started door-to-door campaign. Expressing his gratitude to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee for making him a candidate, Khan said he would work for the people. In the 2016 Bengal Assembly elections, Khan won the Kasba seat on a TMC ticket by garnering 91,679 votes.

His main opponent, Shatarup Ghosh of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) took the second position by receiving 79,795 votes. In 2011 as well, Khan won the constituency by defeating Ghosh with a margin of 19,889 votes or 11.57 per cent. "We have started a door-to-door campaign from Kustia Park to Picnic Garden Road at Ward No. 66, 149-Kasba A.C," said Khan.