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Mamata,
Sonia to stay apart at Englishbazar campaign
Subratata
Nagchoudhury
Kolkata/Malda,
May 2: Mamata
Banerjee and Sonia Gandhi won’t share the stage at a couple
of meetings, including the one at Englishbazar in Malda, said Pranab
Mukherjee, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief.
‘‘You
all know that the Trinamool-Congress alliance has worked in 293
of 294 constituencies. Englishbazar is the exception,’’
he said.
In Englishbazar,
both Trinamool and Congress candidates are in the fray using their
party’s official symbols along with contestants from CPI(M)
and BJP.
On which party
Sonia would favour at her Englishbazar rally, Mukherjee said: ‘‘Because
it’s not a joint rally, Soniaji will obviously ask the people
to vote for Congress candidate Gautam Chakravarty. Trinamool Congress
leaders will do the same for their candidate.’’
Despite the
discordant notes, supporters and leaders of both parties raised
a few questions about Sonia’s itinerary in Bengal. According
to a Trinamool leader, the places selected for her public speeches
are those where the prospects for the Opposition alliance are bright.
‘‘If
Soniaji comes to Midnapore, then why can’t she go to the troubled
spots where Trinamool and Congress candidates are unable to campaign?’’
he said.
In Sabong, for
instance, Congress nominee Manash Bhuniya has complained of CPI(M)
terror. In the Keshpur-Garbeta belt, Trinamool candidates have threatened
to withdraw from the contest because they are unable to campaign
without fear.
Sonia will
address rallies at Kharagpur, Srirampore, Ranaghat and Burdwan on
Thursday.
Other than Burdwan,
all the other places are traditional strongholds of the Trinamool-Congress
alliance, the leaders said.
On the second
leg of Sonia’s tour on Friday, she will visit Cooch Behar,
Raigunj, Malda and Behrampore.
Pradip Bhattacharya,
a PCC spokesman, said taking Sonia to the disturbed zone of Midnapore
would not help the situation at the ‘‘micro level’’.
‘‘Once she leaves, the areas would again be taken over
by CPI(M) cadres,’’ he said. ‘‘We would rather
raise the issues before Chief Election Commissioner M.S.Gill when
he comes to Kolkata tomorrow.’’
A recent survey
of Englishbazar revealed that the Trinamool-Congress tangle has
left no party with a definite edge. In the 1996 elections too, the
fight for Englishbazar was three-cornered. BJP’s Tapan Sikdar,
now a Union minister and whose home town is Malda, had cornered
as much as 24 per cent of the votes. The CPI(M) candidate had bagged
33 per cent and Congress’ Gautam Chakravarty had sailed through
with a little over 40 per cent and a margin of about 10,000 votes.
Trinamool candidate
Krishnendu Chowdhury, said to be a Mamata ‘‘favourite’’,
is not one to give up easily. ‘‘I had bolstered Gautam’s
election in 1996 with money and men. This time, he has nothing but
Ghani Khan’s blessings. This election will mark the end of
Ghani Khan’s dynasty in Malda,’’ a confident Chowdhury
said.
He is also
the chairman of Englishbazar municipality. ‘‘So I have
nothing to loose,’’ he said. However optimistic he may
sound, Chowdhury can’t wish away the ‘‘Ghani Khan
factor’’ in Malda. The veteran Congress leader appears
to consider the contest a prestige fight.
As a long-time
resident of Malda put it: ‘‘After a long time, we are
seeing Ghani Khan Choudhary fighting an Assembly seat. The fight
here is essentially between Ghani Khan and Mamata Banerjee.’’
The Trinamool-Congress wrangling has brought cheer to the CPI(M)
camp. In 1991, the party had bagged nine of the 11 seats in Malda.
In 1996, it’s tally slumped to three.
‘‘We
would be more than happy to regain Englishbazar,’’ said
Jibon Moitra, a senior district CPI(M) leader. No one denies that
the party’s candidate, Samar Roy, does have an outside chance
with the Opposition so bitterly divided here.
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