If the people of Bengal want to test us this year,so be it

Deepak Chatterjee is welcomed to the Burman household like an old friend

Deepak Chatterjee is welcomed to the Burman household like an old friend. He is ushered into the sitting room where tea is promptly served. Chatterjee begs forgiveness. I am here to campaign for my party today, he says. He may have been a CPM worker for more than 27 years but for everyone in the north Kolkata locality of Bangur Avenue,Chatterjee is a parar chele (local boy). So,even when he is out for a door-to-door canvassing session just weeks before the Assembly elections in West Bengal,Chatterjee ensures that the personal equations remain intact.

His target for the day is to cover as many as 10 households in the area that falls under the Bidhan Nagar constituency,where CPM has fielded Palash Das against Trinamools Sujit Bose. Each one of us has been allotted separate blocks. We end up spending close to half-an-hour in each household, says Chatterjee.

These half-hours are more like adda sessions with Chatterjee discussing everything from the rising prices of vegetables to Indias World Cup win. Politics,and the Trinamool Congresss rise,is also acknowledged. If the Trinamool does come to power,CPM workers will have a lot to worry about. Some of us may even have to worry about the safety of our families,but we also want common people to know that Trinamools brand of rowdy politics may seem impressive now but will do more harm than good in times to come, says Chatterjee.

When he joined the SFI (the students organisation of the CPM) in 1982,he was fresh out of school and the Left government was only in its fifth year in West Bengal. People from my generation have seen the rowdy rule of the Congress. We still remember Emergency days. We know what reign of terror really means. People of this generation have had it way too easy, says Chatterjee,who has a small business of construction materials.

Yet,even as he goes from one house to another on a muggy April afternoon,there is a hint of resignation in Chatterjees body language. We can only hope for the best. We know we have never compromised on our ideals. But if the people of West Bengal want to test us this year,so be it, says Chatterjee.