‘Qualified’ candidates may play key role if BJP forms government in Bengal

One of the candidates is Lt Gen Subrata Saha (Retd), former Deputy Chief of Army Staff.

As the elections to the 294 Assembly seats of West Bengal start, The Sunday Guardian looks at some of the most educated and accomplished candidates who have been fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party to take on the ruling Trinamool Congress.

The BJP has fielded at least seven such persons as their candidates from different seats. Among the names featuring on the list of BJP’S “talented” pool of candidates are Lt General (Retd) Subrata Saha; former Economic

Advisor to the Government of India, Ashok Lahiri; eminent scholar, Dr Anirban Ganguly; scientist and professor, Dr Gobardhan Das; and eminent journalists such as Swapan Dasgupta and Rantideb Sengupta.

* LT GEN (RETD) SUBRATA SAHA: Member of the National Security Advisory Board and former Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen (Retd) Saha is contesting on a BJP ticket from the Rashbehari constituency in south Kolkata.

Saha was born in Kolkata to a Bengali family and had done his schooling from the

Sainik School in Purulia, after which he went on to do his graduation from both the Staff College, Camberley in the United Kingdom, and from the Army War College in the United States. During his academic years in the UK, Saha was adjudged the Best Overseas Student at Staff College, Camberley and awarded the Gold Medal at Higher Command Course.

He is also a PHD holder in “irregular warfare”.

As part of the Indian Army, Saha worked in the conflict regions of Kashmir for a very long time and is known to