No holiday on day after poll for MLA-hopefuls across constituencies

Kolkata: The frenetic pace of campaigning may have concluded on polling day, but for candidates, the day after offered little scope for pause. Ac-ross constituencies, MLA-hopefuls slipped into a different rhythm on Thursday, marked by review meetings, damage assessment and anticipation.

Senior functionary Aroop Biswas, who contested from Tollygunge, headed to the party office at Bijoygarh to review post-poll matters. His competitor Papiya Adhikari had back-to-back engagements on Thursday — she met counting agents and interacted with booth-level workers to piece together a ground-level picture. Even family interactions were entwined with politics: Her elder daughter, pursuing a doctorate in management, assisted at the office, while other relatives contributed to campaign management. "I was with my family but all we discussed was polls," she said.





Rasbehari MLA Debasish Kumar recounted incidents of post-poll violence, particularly in New Alipore, which kept him occupied well into the night. "Three persons were admitted to Bangur Hospital," he said. His day began with a visit to the party office to check documentation before resuming official duties at KMC.

Kolkata Port MLA and city mayor Firhad Hakim began his day with a visit to Sakhawat Memorial strong room centre before he met CM Mamata Banerjee. Later in the day, he checked on party workers who were detained and suffered injuries on poll day. Then he went to KMC and conducted his House duties.

Elsewhere, the mood varied. Arjun Singh struck a measured note of calm. "I am in a relatively relaxed mood, but as soon as one election ends, preparation for the next begins," he said.

For Bikashranjan Bhattacharya, it was a rare moment at home. "The voting has been very good. I am not a political astrologer, but the results could be surprising," he said.

Some, like Devdeep Purohit, attempted to balance personal milestones with political commitments. Despite his children scoring above 95% in ICSE exam — the results were declared on Thursday — post-election responsibilities took precedence. "I couldn't meet them in the morning, but we spent time together by evening," he said.

BJP Chowringhee candidate Santosh Pathak reached his party office in the morning like every other day and met with the workers. "I didn't go out to campaign since the election is over. But there were meetings as usual," he said.

Both Jorasanko candidates — Vijay Upadhyay of Trinamool and Vijay Ojha of BJP — spent the day participating in a religious festival in their areas. Upadhyay, along with other functionaries in Jorasanko, held meetings with workers to collect booth-level feedback. "This was to know how we have performed in various pockets of the constituency. Jorasanko was never an easy contest. We really worked hard to garner votes," a Trinamool councillor said.

Shashi Panja, Trinamool candidate from Shyampukur, held meetings with her counting agents before she staged a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra strong room in the evening. Tapas Roy, BJP candidate from Manictala, met with party workers all day. "The way central forces and ECI conducted free and fair polls is commendable. We are certain of a win," Roy said.
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