Click to play videoKolkata: The third phase of the West Bengal elections on Wednesday will see a high profile battle of two economic PhDs in Khardah. This time all eyes will be on the two contestants fighting for the state's finance ministry. It's the clash of ideas as voters will have to decide from the liberalisation of Amit Mitra or the labour-intensive growth model of Asim Dasgupta.
For FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra, it has been quite a journey from business suits and boardrooms to Dhoti-Kurta and meetings on the roadside. Flanked by his wife, the Trinamool Congress candidate sees immense business possibilities in Bengal.
"Those who are not here, both public and private sectors, are simply holding their breath for a fresh air in Bengal which is devoid of gherao, which is devoid of beating up management and yet has trade union base in a democratic manner, they are waiting for that to happen," Amit Mitra said.
Mitra's opponent is his senior at Kolkata's Presidency College - State Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta, a Ph.D in economics from MIT. A winner from this seat for past five consecutive terms, it remains to be seen whether Dasgupta will be able to pull off a sixth win.
"We are going to people with a very simple message. To us the most important thing is employment generation and income for common people," Asim Dasgupta said.
Khardah, an industrial locality, has witnessed quite a few industry closures in the recent past costing more than 10,000 jobs. With Trinamool Congress already surging ahead of the Left as per 2009 Lok Sabha poll figures, Dasgupta would need more than job promises to get his voters back.
More than politics, it's the clash of ideas between the CPM and the Trinamool Congress at the Khardah constituency that symbolizes the route Bengal will take in the years ahead to get past its so-called economic and financial mess. The liberalisation of Amit Mitra or the labour-intensive growth model of Asim Dasgupta - it is for the people to decide how they want their economic to look like in the next five years.
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