Left logs into youth power

In the recent state committee meeting of the CPM,the emphasis was on bringing fresh blood into the party,and it was decided to give 25 per cent representation to youths in all the state party committees. By nominating Ritabrata for the prestigious seat,the party has signalled that it is serious on infusing youthful energy into the party.

Fluent in three languages — Bengali ,Hindi and English — Ritabrata has managed to do well in the students’ politics both in the state as well as the national level. He is considered the most promising among the new generation of media and tech-zsavvy CPM leaders. He is also the face of the party in the newsroom of television channels and represents the new generation of Left leaders accessible even in the virtual cyberspace.

If one browse though the facebook profile of the 31 year-old youth leader,one gets to understand that he even tries to reason with people who criticise him on the cyberspace.

Ritabrata says that through this latest assignment — contesting from Lok Sabha by-poll — the party wants to send a strong message on the political situation in the country and also in the state. According to him,his campaign will be hinge upon national issues like price rise and corruption in the UPA government; and also the “double standards of Trinamool Congress leadership on these issues”.

“If Mamata Banerjee does not want,Centre cannot go ahead with its policies. We have seen this in case of Teesta water-sharing treaty and also on the Land Acquisition Act. This is a hypocritical design of saying that Trinamool does not have say on the decisions taken by the UPA,” he adds.

His campaign strategy will therefore focus on telling people that they may not vote for him but in that case they are voting for corruption and price rise and anti-people policies.

Winning the Kolkata South seat would be an arduous task for him though,as Mamata Banerjee has never lost from the constituency since 1991. This time,she has nominated Trinamool Congress vice-president Subrata Bakshi for the seat. Bakshi,who had vacated his Bhawnipore Assembly seat for Mamata,is known to be a man of organisational skills and has years of political experience.

For Ritabrata,the by-poll will be a litmus test,but he dismisses it as a contest between two leaders. “This is a contest of two ideologies,” he points. On his candidature,Ritabrata response is like a seasoned Left Front politician.

“In Left politics,becoming a candidate in election is not important. For next one month,the job assigned to me is to contest the election and I am looking forward to that,” he says,showing without any sign of enthusiasm.

Ritabrata did his schooling from South Point High School and his inception to student politics started from Asutosh College . According to the student leader,there is a good amount of support for him and already his batchmates,irrespective of their political ideologies,have started canvassing for him. Although pitted against a tough opponent at a time when the Left Front is experiencing historical reverses,Ritabrata says the question is not about winning or losing. “It’s about reaching to the people and telling them to vote for him,” he adds.