Blood ties pale in battle between siblings

KOLKATA: It's sibling rivalry in central Kolkata's ward 49. Trinamool Congress' Aparajita Dasgupta, the sitting councillor, is taking on her brother Basudeb Banerjee, a first-time Congress nominee. Both of them are keeping their personal relationship aside in the political battle against CPM rookie Sumit Deb.
"Personal relations are on a different level.Contesting a election is a political right. My brother is contesting the polls for the ideology that he believes in. I'm fighting for my principles," said Aparajita, who made her first entry into Kolkata Municipal Corporation in 2005 by winning the seat on a Congress ticket. A Somen Mitra-loyalist, Aparajita followed him to Pragatishil Indira Congress and then Trinamool.
Born into a political family, the two siblings — now in their middle-ages — have charted different political courses. Their father Binoy Banerjee was a councillor from the same ward in the '60s. He went on to be MLA twice, first on a Congress ticket in 1972 and then Janata Party in 1977. Basudeb followed his father's footsteps, working for the party while running his business that includes a hotel at Sealdah. Aparajita was a homemaker who turned to politics as a means of social work.
"I hadn't thought of joining politics. My father never asked me. I wanted to work for people and politics gave me that opportunity," Aparajita said. That was way back in 1985 when she formally entered Congress.
Her elder brother had by then become a permanent fixture in the election campaigns of several leaders, including Somen Mitra. Years later, the two found themselves in opposing political camps.
Basudeb quit Congress in 2006 and joined Trinamool. "When Mamata Banerjee formed Trinamool, she had promised that the party will be for the grassroots worker. I'm an organizational man. In the three years or so that I spent in Trinamool I wasn't happy with the shape that the party had taken," Basudeb said. He switched to Congress.
Never before has Basudeb contested any polls and claims that he wasn't very keen this time too. "But Congress leaders approached me and I decided to stand. I've no other loyalties but the party. I don't like personality cults. I don't need any leader's blessing but that of the 13,000 voters in my ward," said Basudeb.
Like his sister, Basudeb too refuses to attach any importance to the fact that his rival happens to be his sister. "Politics is not about blood relations. I couldn't ever imagine that I'd have to contest against her. But then, prodded by Krishna, Arjun had to fight against his own relatives," Basudeb said.
Aparajita started her door-to-door campaign on Wednesday. Basudeb will hit the streets on Friday. Aparajita refuses to make any promises to her electorate. "I don't make promises. Even in the last elections I didn't. Whatever I can, I will do," she said.