WB Assembly elections: Madan Mitra continues his campaign from jail, supporters hope for his comeback

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress is on an image saving mode with allegations against its leaders of accepting bribes as seen in a sting operation video. One of them is former West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra who is in jail since December 2014 in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam.

While the challenge has become tougher for him as he contests from jail, his supporters in his constituency of Kamarhati in North 24 Parganas district are toiling hard to elect him for a second term as MLA.

Supporters of jailed TMC leader Madan Mitra are upbeat and campaigning for their leader ahead of assembly polls in the state. While Madan's political opponents are trying to cash in on his tainted image, Mitra's loyal supportes are ensuring that constituents of Kamarhati don't forget their incumbent representative.

TMC councillor Samiran Das said, "With the blessings of the Kamarhati people, he will be victorious again and work for the people. We are going door to door, writing on the walls and carrying flexes of him during our campaigns."

The Saradha chit fund scam probe resulted in Mitra going behind bars in December 2014. He was forced to resign as Sports and Transport Minister in November 2015.

Political Analyst Shikha Mukherjee said, "Getting him to win is the key issue for the TMC, because if he doesn't win, then it would imply that the voter in Kamarhati is saying very clearly, we don't buy the story of his innocence."

Kamarhati has predominantly been a Left bastion until the 2011 Assembly elections until Mitra won 74,112 votes with a 57.96% vote share defeating his CPIM counterpart.

Now his political fate hangs in the balance as 12,41,638 voters of Kamarhati cast their vote.

Mitra might have been languishing in jail all these days, cut out from the outside world but the people in his constituency have not forgotten him. His supporters are confident that their efforts will culminate into his victory.

"So what if he is in jail? He is not convicted. If he wins, he will be released. He will win and be with us again," says Mohan Sahu, one of his supporters.