Eminent Bengali writer Amar Mitra, who recently had to revisit the 1970s due to a literary achievement, doesn’t think the political atmosphere that West Bengal sees during elections has changed much when compared with those days.
According to him, while that period commonly witnessed rigging, it also boasted of some good leaders and great speakers, whereas today there is hardly any politician in Bengal whose speech one waits for.
“Present-day election atmosphere is not good. I am no longer eager to listen to election speeches, which I did once upon a time, when you had leaders like Hiren Mukherjee or Indira Gandhi or Indrajit Gupta. These days, leaders throw dirty language at each other, something completely unwanted. Most leaders do not even know their country and countrymen,” said Mr. Mitra, 72, a recipient of several honours including the O. Henry Award and Sahitya Akademi Award.
