Anshul Avijit, Congress candidate from high-profile Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency is a suave and articulate politician as he faces an uphill task of wresting the seat from BJP for his party and starting his parliamentary career with aplomb. Patna Sahib seat will go to the poll in the last phase on June 1.
Avijit, who earned his MPhil and PhD from Cambridge, is son of the first lady Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and maternal grandson of former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram. His grandma Sumitra Devi was the first woman cabinet minister of the state. Avijit is Congress's national spokesperson, known for putting forward his arguments with facts and figures.
Excerpts of an interview with FPJ
Question: Your party (Congress) has chosen you to contest election from a constituency considered as BJP's safe seat. Your take on this?
Avijit: BJP is good at propaganda... creating an impression they are impregnable. I consider it as my privilege that my party has selected me to contest election from Patna Sahib. There is a strong anti-incumbency against sitting BJP MP (Ravi Shankar Prasad). The BJP candidate also faces the charge of being inaccessible to the people whom he claims to represent.
Q: How do you think RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's job plank will help bolster your electoral prospects?
A: Tejashwi ji's job plank is getting overwhelming response from youths. I will definitely benefit as youths have seen how Tejashwi gave five lakh govt jobs in the 17-month rule of the previous grand alliance regime.
Q: How well has been Bihar's grand alliance contesting the poll and what are your hopes?
A: In Bihar, INDIA bloc is contesting the election as a cohesive unit. I am getting support from everybody, RJD'ss Tejashwi ji, CPI-ML's Dipankar Bhattacharya, everybody. We are confident of putting up agood show.
Q: How will you react to the dynastic politics charge?
A: I feel proud my family has such a strong political background as they served the people of this country and the state so well. I draw inspiration from them. They are a source of inspiration for everybody.
Q: What about Modi wave?
A: Everybody knows there is nothing like the Modi wave.The myth about Modi wave or magic will be dispelled. Everybody is fed up with the Modi government as it is the most incompetent dispensation we have to date. Their all equations will go haywire.
