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Mayoral race: Apu Bagchi profile
Dilwar Hussain meets the independent mayoral candidate
Sitting in Apu Bagchi's elegant home in Bedford's town centre, I ask him what he will bring to Borough Hall if he is elected.
As he sipped a cup of Darjeeling tea, the 69-year-old veteran councillor laughed off the suggestion that he could be viewed as Bedford's Barack Obama and acknowledged that he had a tough battle ahead.
He said: "If you want to call me that, you can, but my foremost goal is to drive forward. I know it will not be easy. It never is for independent candidates."
But Apu, of Bushmead Avenue, still hopes to "make a change" and bring a little Obama magic to the town with his rich experience and background.
The former mayor – in the days when the job was a ceremonial role, rather than the powerful executive post it is now – recalled the 1960s when he first came to Bedford, and feels his experiences have equipped him well to reap the rewards of Bedford's diverse and vibrant community.
He said: "Bedford has a diverse community and there is a lot we can do. I have experienced many social changes over the last few decades, the increasing diversity in the borough can add to the richness of this town. I believe in people and I am very optimistic."
Apu was born and brought up in Calcutta, India, and obtained his first degree in mathematics from Calcutta University.
He left India for Germany, and shortly after he came to England almost 40 years ago.
Apu was not the first person in his family to have mingled in politics.
His father was headteacher of a Calcutta school while his cousin was deputy mayor of the city.
He said: "I got my first flavour of working for people and politics during this period. My father was a headteacher and I had a cousin involved in politics.
"In India my family were really open to everyone. We had an open house and people would come in and out all day long and it was just wonderful."
He met his future wife, Cynthia, a lifelong Bedfordian, in London, in 1967 and the couple got married the following year.
Apu believes their families' experience of different cultures and traditions have formed a well grounded understanding of community and diversity.
Their three children were all brought up in the town and went to Biddenham Upper School, in Queens Park.
Apu has held various prominent positions in Bedford over the years as a magistrate, teacher, lecturer and chairman of the Race Equality Council in Bedford.
He was the mayor between 1996 and 1997 when he was one of the council's ranks of Labour members. At that time the mayor was chosen by councillors and duties as the town's first citizen were mainly of the meet and greet variety.
But he has also served as a deputy to the late Frank Branston, Bedford's first elected mayor who was also an independent.
If elected, Apu hopes to bring investment into the borough, reduce council tax, clear up traffic, improve transport and increase opportunites for young people.
He added: "I have become disenchanted with the ramblings of party politics which puts party first, not people.
"All I want to do is serve the people of this town and give them what they want.
"One of my proudest moments as mayor was being invited to Calcutta in India, by its mayor, where I took our local youth cricket team.
"We played matches with teams from India and Bangladesh and it was a great achievement."
This is the kind of work he wants to continue doing, helping the young people get the best out of everything and increasing diversity and social relations.
"I want to do all that I can for our borough. I have an interest in people, I always have done and that is where my passion lies."
Mr Bagchi is also a big fan of theatre and Indian and European classical music and points to Shakespeare's Othello, as one of his favourite Shakespearean dramas.
He said: "I really like theatre and plays written by people like Harold Pinter, David Hare, John Osborne and Shakespeare.
"They reflect society and there is much we can learn from them."
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Weather for Bedford
Sunday 05 February 2012
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