The Congress has fielded new faces in two Lok Sabha constituencies, the party’s erstwhile bastions in north Bengal.
Imran Ali Ramz, 46, son of former Forward Bloc leader Ramzan Ali, is the Congress nominee in Raiganj, the home turf of later party veteran Priya Ranjan Das Munshi.
Senior Congress leader Mostaque Alam will contest from Malda North.
Outgoing Malda South MP Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury’s son Isha Khan Choudhury has been nominated for the same seat, a stronghold of the Congress. This shows the central leadership of the Congress still banks on the sentiments associated with Congress patriarch A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhury.
The Congress seemed to have taken into account around 52 per cent of Muslims in the Malda district when it picked up Alam for the Malda North seat.
Popularly known as Victor, Imran hails from a political family and was elected to the Assembly thrice. He joined the Congress in 2022.
“The Trinamul Congress candidate (Krisha Kalyani) in Raiganj had won the Assembly election on the BJP’s ticket. This has not gone down well with the people here. We are reaching out to them and requesting them to support us. The contest will be between the Congress and the BJP,” said Imran.
Political observers in the district said the Congress’s plan to field Imran would keep Trinamul under pressure.
“North Dinajpur district has around 50 per cent minority population. Victor is from the minority community and the BJP will try to polarise votes. In such a situation, it is a tough contest for Trinamul in Raiganj,” said an observer.
Kalyani, the Trinamul candidate is, however, confident of his win. “In 2021, the Left or the Congress couldn’t win a single Assembly seat in the district. The same trend will continue in the Lok Sabha polls. The minorities will not vote for the Congress candidate. He will lose by a margin of at least 50,000 votes,” said the Trinamul candidate.
In the past 44 years, this is the first time that no one from the generation of Ghani Khan is contesting in the Parliament elections. “Even in 2019, A.H. Khan Choudhury, his brother, had contested from Malda South. This time, Isha, who represents the next generation, is in the fray,” said a political veteran in Malda.
In 2019, Malda South was the only seat which the Congress had won in north Bengal. The BJP had won the remaining seven seats in the region.
Isha, who was fielded in Malda North last time, lost to the BJP’s Khagen Murmu. He had also contested the Assembly elections thrice and got elected twice from two different Assembly constituencies — Baishnabnagar and Sujapur — which are in the Malda South Lok Sabha segment.
“Trinamul cannot fight the BJP at the national level.… The Congress is a national party and has the strength to counter the BJP. We don’t think people will vote Trinamul in Malda,” Isha said as he kicked off his campaign on Friday.
Congress insiders said his father had wanted to contest the seat again. However, as he fell sick, the leadership chose Isha, considering his Ghani Khan lineage.
“People in Malda still have strong sentiments for the Ghani Khan family. It is evident that the Congress has chosen to use it,” said an observer.