Congress’s Isha Khan Chowdhury reaching out to a voter in Malda North. File
Isha Khan Chowdhury, final flag bearer of the Congress in Malda, is contesting from the Malda Dakshin constituency, which his household has held for the previous 5 many years.
His father Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury had represented the seat for the previous three phrases since 2009 and prior to this, his uncle and veteran Congress chief ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury had represented the constituency because the Eighties.
During the warmth of the election marketing campaign, Mr. Khan Chowdhury doesn’t thoughts being referred to as the “last flag bearer of the Congress from the Ghani Khan family”. Two of his different members of the family, cousin Mausam Benazir Noor and uncle Abu Naser Khan Chowdhury, have switched sides to the Trinamool Congress.
“The Trinamool Congress [TMC] might be a secular party but the problem is that it is embroiled in so many scams. These are not accusations by political parties anymore. It is in public domain and even the [Calcutta] High Court is commenting on this,” Mr. Khan Chowdhury advised The Hindu.
The former Congress MLA, who’s locked in a triangular contest with the BJP’s Sreerupa Mitra Chowdhury and TMC candidate Shahnawaz Ali Rehan, says he doesn’t need to get the taint of being related to the TMC. He has additionally represented his celebration in the West Bengal Assembly for 10 years, and was MLA from Baishnabnangar from 2011-2016 and the Sujapur constituency from 2016-21. “We come from a secular family and we are proud to be associated with a secular party,” he mentioned.
In 2021, the TMC swept the Assembly polls and the Congress chief misplaced the election. Out of the seven Assembly seats in the constituency, six had been gained by the TMC and Sreerupa Mitra Chowdhury gained from the Englishbazar seat. Mr. Khan Chowdhury blames the polarisation by the TMC and the BJP on the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens for his loss in the 2021 Assembly polls.
‘Political tactic’
“The shock we received in 2021 was because of the polarisation in CAA-NRC. Minorities have become a bit wise since 2021. People are saying that we are not fools and not scared of CAA-NRC anymore. They realise it is a political tactic both by the TMC and the BJP,” the Congress candidate from Malda Dakshin mentioned.
On the TMC strolling out of the INDIA alliance in West Bengal, the 52-year-old Congress chief mentioned folks had understood what the plans of the TMC management had been on preventing the BJP. “First they [TMC leadership] held meetings in the INDIA alliance then they walked out of it. Why did they join the alliance when they had to walk out,” Mr. Khan Chowdhury mentioned, including that the TMC was by no means about becoming a member of the INDIA alliance.
Mr. Khan Chowdhury feels that there’s a probability for the Congress to rise up on its toes in West Bengal as there’s plenty of anti-incumbency in opposition to the TMC in the State, notably due to the allegations of corruption.
“Our party has been weakened because Mamata [Banerjee] has systematically targeted our party. The MLAs have been targeted, giving money and lodging cases against them. Despite so much targeting, we are still here” the Congress candidate mentioned.