May 13, 2011, 11.18 PM IST

Could see a tectonic shift in Mamta: Amit Mitra

In an interview with CNBC-TV18�s Shereen Bhan, Mitra says, he had come into this stray because there was a tectonic shift that I could see under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee.

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FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra, who stood from the Kharda constituency on a TMC ticket, has defeated former West Bengal finance minister Asim Dasgupta by a 26,000 vote margin. The buzz is that Mitra could be appointed finance minister of the state.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18�s Shereen Bhan, Mitra says, he had come into this stray because there was a tectonic shift that I could see under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee.

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Here is a verbatim transcript of the exclusive interview with Amit Mitra on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.

Q: I am no longer going to introduce you as the secretary general of FICCI, will it be the finance minister of West Bengal?

A: No, that is absolutely not right. I have honestly come into this stray because there was a tectonic shift that I could see under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. The election commission played a stellar role in giving us, people the opportunity, the common people of West Bengal to express their grievances, which has been muscled. There was complete a non-vote structure or what was called engineered and balanced surfing for so many years. We finally got a chance. I can tell you I made 26 complaints to the observer, everything was settled within ten minutes of being told. Mamata Banerjee has taken away the fear from the people.