“I know I have the potential to stand out as an individual,” says a confident Tania Ghosh, who is contesting the Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls from ward number 51 as a Congress nominee.

Represented by her father-in-law, Pradip Ghosh since 1985, the ward was reserved for women candidates this time, forcing the party to fall back on his daughter-in-law.

Though Tania is making her electoral debut, she is well acquainted with politics.

Located in central Kolkata, Ward 51 is one of the few seats that hold hopes for the sinking Congress in the civic polls. Unlike many other wards, where the contest has finally narrowed down to head on contest between two parties, Ward 51 is witnessing a triangular — Congress, Trinamool Congress and the Left Front — battle.

The best part about this new, young face from Congress is that despite being confident about her work and the challenges she has taken up, she still retains the innocence of a newcomer. Though she is not totally adept in handling the media, unlike other veterans in her field, she manages to send her message across clearly and confidently. “My father, Late Utpal Saha, used to be the councillor for Ward 50 for 10 years. My father-in-law Pradip Ghosh has been a Councillor of this ward since 1985,” she says invoking her political legacy.

“Hence, social services, or the idea of standing by the side of common people and attending to their needs are not new to me. I have grown up in a tradition of service to the people,” she adds.

A graduate in Film Studies from St Xavier’s College, Tania believes that by working in a day-and-night diagnostic clinic in her locality, she experienced the joy of serving the needy people for the first time.

Tania’s husband, Sajal ghosh, is a social worker and also a youth leader. “Now, I am prepared to rush out of home and help the needy even at wee hours if the situation demands,” says Tania.

Tania says he is confident of winning because people

in her ward are “satisfied with the development works during my father-in-law’s tenure as councillor”. To justify it, Tania invokes the “model municipal ward” that was given to ward 51 for five times.

“But even a beautiful building may fall flat if not maintained well,” says Tania, adding that her intention behind fighting the election is to keep the flow of the developmental work going uninterrupted. If elected, her focus would be on education, especially of the slum children.

To her critics who label her a product of nepotism and puppet in the hands of her father-in-law, Tania retorts: “My father and father-in-law would anyway have been guiding stars in my life, and so they are. Just because I take steps with their advice does not mean I can’t think independently.”