By Tirthankar Mitra
BAHRAMPUR: Emotion is pitted against electoral arithmetic in Bahrampur assembly segment In West Bengal, which once used to be synonymous with toehold of Congress in the political scenario of the state. There has been a change of scene over the past five years which saw two elections which the Congress lost; Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, whose name continued to be synonymous with Congress is seeking another change. The erstwhile Leader of the Congress Party in Lok Sabha, Adhir Choudhury is seeking election for the state assembly from his home turf.
Choudhury has been in political wilderness ever since his defeat by more than 85,000 votes in 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Bahrampur constituency to Trinamool Congress nominee, Yusuf Pathan. Conceding defeat to a former test cricketer from Gujarat who had little to do with politics was galling for the Congress veteran.
But Choudhury refused to be written off. The five time MP from Bahrampur continued to retain contact with the local people.
A victory in April 23 election is Choudhury’s route to political rehabilitation. Though the opinion of the leader of the Opposition in the 17th Lok Sabha is still much sought after in divergent political issues, a place in the state Legislative Assembly will be a reiteration of the fact that he is far from being a spent force.
Choudhury had once been a member of the state legislature from Nabagram in Murshidabad district. But he resigned to participate in Lok Sabha election and never looked back
But as circumstances would have it, Choudhury is touching base as he campaigns in the dusty Bahrampur by-lanes. One would be economical with truth to say that he has a large contingent of followers with him.
But the voters especially those who have been benefitted by the former MP are giving him a warm welcome. The greetings are all the more genuine as partisan motives never swayed Choudhury’s helping hand.
Once a minister of state for railways, Choudhury has always been close to late Pranab Mukherjee. Small wonder, the basket of benefits at his side were always plentiful which were showered liberally on his followers and even political opponents.
Emotion is certainly on Choudhury’s side but not electoral arithmetic. He has long been in the crosshairs of TMC being one of the strongest critics of its government.
His 25 years in the Lok Sabha honed his ability to make politics the art of the possible when at his initiative an electoral alliance with erstwhile political opponent CPIM) was cobbled together before 2016 Assembly elections. The ideologically divergent coalition gave the Trinamool Congress MLAs in the Treasury benches a hard time in the House and outside it.
But the steady rise of Trinamool Congress saw Choudhury’s influence being on the wane after he won a hard fought electoral battle in 2019 elections. Making things worse, the 2021 Assembly elections marked the emergence of BJP nominee Subrata Saha as the winning candidate at Bahrampur Assembly segment with 35.01 per cent votes.
For the first time since independence, the Congress failed to be represented by a single legislator in the state Assembly. Even the lone MLA who had won a by poll at Sagardighi defected to TMC.
It is against this backdrop, Bahrampur is witnessing a three cornered contest with Choudhury representing Congress while Subrata Moitra, the sitting MLA is the BJP nominee and local municipality head Narugopal Mukherjee is the Trinamool Congress nominee in this seat. Incidentally both Moitra and Mukherjee had once been Choudhury’s followers.
Both of his political rivals are never short on courtesy towards their former leader. But the duo are quick to point out that the support base of Congress has gone over to BJP and TMC.
TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has dubbed Choudhury a “BJP agent” during the former’s campaign in Bahrampur. Choudhury dismissed it as an old hat. Choudhury is now seeking to reinvigorate some of his old support base. It is apparently a tall order.
Yet there is a possibility of cross voting in his favour denting the vote bank of his political rivals. The contention is lent credence if the take of Byron Biswas, a TMC legislator of Sagardighi who switched loyalty from Congress is anything to go by.
Not only has he called Choudhury his political guru but equated the Congress leader to his elder brother. In the event of there being many like Biswas in ranks of TMC and BJP, an unexpected surge of support is likely for the Congress nominee on April 23 when he needs it most.
Choudhury’s rivals especially the TMC leadership are keenly aware that he will be a thorn in its flesh once he is elected. The BJP leadership knows that Choudhury can convert an electoral victory to put up a obstacle course before a saffron wave in West Bengal.
Small wonder, defeating him is the common goal of both BJP and TMC. Only too aware of this harsh reality, Choudhury knows that the battle of the ballot on April 23 is a do or die contest for him..
The affection of the people Choudhury had represented and unstintingly helped over the decades will be the final arbiter in the April 23 electoral battle. If it dries up, Adhir Ranjan Choudhury will be a “a lion in winter”. (IPA Service)
