A visibly tired Aishe Ghosh sat up on the iron cot. Her face did not hide the disappointment of not getting enough sleep after reaching the colliers’ union office at Raniganj.
“It’s okay, let’s talk. I didn’t sleep yesterday,” Ghosh, who had reached Raniganj from her hostel in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi, said. The 26-year-old researcher in International Relations, is the CPM’s candidate in Jamuria.
The president of JNU Students’ Union, Ghosh was in the midst of a strike when the party asked her to contest from Jamuria in West Bengal’s Paschim Bardhaman district. The strike was to demand the opening of a library—remaining closed for several months--on the JNU campus.
“We opened it,” Ghosh said with a nonchalant shrug when asked about the strike’s outcome. A scar on her head brought back to memory the visuals of masked men and women, armed with rods and hammers, having a free run on the campus in January 2020. “I couldn’t identify them,” Ghosh said.
The research scholar has not yet gone home in Durgapur, 23km away from Raniganj, after returning from Delhi. Her father Debasish Ghosh, a former employee of Damodar Valley Corporation, had received her at the airport and dropped her off at the union office, which will be her residence-cum-office till the polling.
You are foraying into something much bigger than campus politics. Are you nervous?
The party and the alliance have placed a huge responsibility on me. This coming election is a major challenge. Both the BJP and Trinamool are playing divisive political games.
Are BJP and Trinamool Congress alike?
Trinamool’s representatives have not stood by the people during 10 years of its rule. It is important that TMC is ousted. BJP is playing the communal card here as it does elsewhere in the country. It doesn’t suit Bengal.
Are you sure that BJP won’t poach from your alliance partners?
BJP is doing it everywhere. Several Trinamool works are joining BJP now. Our alliance has reached an understanding to prevent anyone joining the BJP from our camp. People of Bengal are not interested in either BJP or Trinamool. The alliance was formed based on the people’s interest to have us as the alternative.
What are your campaign plans in Jamuria?
I will meet the party comrades first before approaching the voters. The polling here is in the seventh phase on April 26.
Will your father accompany you during the campaign?
No. My house is in another constituency and my father will be campaigning there. My mother and younger sister are there at home. I will be staying in this union office during the campaign.
What about your friends from the university?
They will join me once the campaign begins.
Do you have friends in Kerala?
Yes, I have several friends in Kerala. I have visited almost all places there except Malappuram. I had attended an SFI programme in Thiruvananthapuram in February last year.
Won’t your candidature affect your research work?
I have submitted a draft thesis. The final one will be submitted soon.
Why did you prefer JNU to Visva-Bharati? Is it because of politics is not allowed in those universities?
No. It did not offer the topic on which I wanted to research. Problems related to central universities are there in Visva-Bharati.
The deteriorating political climate in Bengal is forcing several parents to enroll their children in colleges outside the State. Once they complete the course, they settle down there itself. Bengal is fast becoming a State of the elderly. It happened in the party also.
There are several young faces among candidates this time?
Yes, they are included with a long-term vision and to create a new model. The new generation should be able to study and work in the State.
Ghosh has not yet enquired about her rival candidates in Jamuria, which had elected CPM in the previous election. “It’s not individuals that are contesting, but ideologies. It’s not me in the race, but the party” the young candidate said.