The four constituencies of Malda South, Malda North, Jangipur and Murshidabad are all geared up to go to polls on May 7 and considered the Congress bastion. The Malda North constituency of West Bengal will witness a three-cornered contest with the Congress-Left Front alliance, BJP and the TMC locking horns. The constituency, once a stronghold of the Congress, has seen the emergence of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress over the past decade. BJP MP Khagen Murmu has been pitted against TMC’s former IPS officer Prasun Banerjee. Congress has fielded Mostaque Alam. On the other hand, Malda South seat involves an interesting electoral contest with Raihan representing the Trinamool, Sreerupa Mitra Chowdhury for the BJP and Congress’ Isha Khan Chowdhury defending the seat. Chowdhury’s father, Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury, represented the seat over the past five years. While the Congress won it in 2019, Trinamool swept the region in the 2021 Assembly elections. While a majority of the voters in the constituency are Muslims, a split in their vote may help the BJP to give an extra edge over the Congress and TMC. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee has alleged that the Congress leadership in Bengal had foiled the INDIA bloc alliance in the state and termed the party as ‘vote katua’ (vote cutters) in Malda, a district where Trinamool had never won in any Lok Sabha polls. The Murshidabad seat will be contested by CPI(M) state secretary Mohd Salim, Trinamool’s sitting MP Abu Taher Khan and BJP’s Gouri Shankar Ghosh. Although Congress has thrown their weight behind CPI(M) , Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury campaigning for CPM is facing tough challenge from BJP in Murshidabad because BJP is trying to consolidate Hindu vote. In Jangipur seat, a three-cornered contest is expected among the Congress-Left Front alliance, BJP and the TMC. In 2019, the seat was won by the Trinamool Congress and local businessman Khallilur Rahman. He is re-contesting this time. BJP’s DhanahjayGhosh and Congress’ Mortazza Hossain are also in the race.
BSP FIELDING MUSLIM CANDIDATES MAY CUT INTO CONGRESS-SP VOTE BANK
The Muslim community accounts for about 19% of UP’s total population and the BSP is taking all measures to woo them, sharpening its attack on the BJP. This time, the party is working on Dalit-Muslim formula, BSP chief Mayawati has fielded about 20 candidates from the Muslim community, including women candidates, out of the 72 nominees it has declared so far. The BSP has fielded the Muslim candidates from a slew of eastern UP constituencies such as Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Bhadohi, Ambedkarnagar and Sant Kabir Nagar. In west UP, the BSP has fielded Majid Ali from Saharanpur, Zeeshan Khan from Rampur, Mujahid Hussain from Amroha. The party has fielded Anees Ahmed from Pilibhit, Shaukat Ali from Sambhal and Irfan Saifi from Moradabad. In Badaun, where SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s cousin Aditya Yadav, son of Shivpal Singh Yadav, is in the fray, the BSP has fielded Muslim Khan. In central UP, the BSP has fielded Sarwar Malik from Lucknow against defence minister Rajnath Singh and SP candidate Ravidas Mahrotra. From Kannauj, where Akhilesh is contesting from, the BSP has named Imran Bin Zafar as its candidate. In the Muslim-dominated Azamgarh constituency in Purvanchal (east UP), the BSP recently replaced its candidate Bhim Rajbhar, former state party president, with a Pasmanda (backward) Muslim woman Sabiha Ansari. According to political observers, BSP’s decision to field Muslim candidates, coupled with its traditional Dalit vote bank, is undoubtedly to challenge the SP-Congress alliance. This fracture in the Dalit and Muslim vote bank may ultimately favour BJP. While the SP and Congress accused the BSP of being allegedly the BJP’s B-team.
KERALA LDF’S EP JAYARAJAN DISMISSES FIASCO AS MALICIOUS PROPAGANDA
After BJP leader Shobha Surendran and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran had alleged that Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor E.P. Jayarajan had discussions with Prakash Javadekar regarding joining the saffron party, the Left cadres have shown their strange reactions mix with shock. Meanwhile, a political middleman, TG Nandakumar has claimed that Javadekar met Jayarajan at a flat in Thiruvananthapuram in his presence, with the cause of seeking CPI(M)’s assistance in securing the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat for the BJP. However, E.P. Jayarajan denied the offer and he sent a legal notice against BJP leader Shobha Surendran, KPCC president K Sudhakaran, and the middleman, alleging that they have carried out false propaganda after hatching a conspiracy to insult him and his party. While the state CPM gave a clean chit to Jayarajan, but the final decision will be taken by the CPM Central Committee. The state CPM has also decided to start a counter campaign on the issue to show how party leaders withstand BJP’s attempts to woo them.
GHAZIPUR MP’S DAUGHTER IN THE FRAY IN CASE COURT BLOCKS HIS NOMINATION
With a court ruling on Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari’s eligibility to fight elections from the seat awaited, Ansari has already decided on a backup candidate, who is none other than his daughter, Nusrat Ansari. Nusrat could also file her nomination from Ghazipur seat. However, Nusrat who has already started campaigning in Ghazipur, has met SP chief Akhilesh Yadav when he visited the family after Mukhtar Ansari’s custodial death. On the other hand, Vandana Rai, daughter of BJP candidate Parasnath Rai, has also taken up the charge of election campaigning in Ghazipur for her father, who is contesting the MP election for the first time.
AKHILESH’S ELDEST DAUGHTER, ADITI, CAMPAIGNS HARD FOR MOTHER, DIMPLE
The elder daughter of the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Aditi Yadav, 21, has shown immense interest in politics by participating and braving the scorching summers to campaign for her mother Dimple Yadav, in UP’s Mainpuri district. Seeking votes for her mother, Aditi has been addressing small gatherings of locals in the high-profile constituency. Videos of her campaigning for her mother are also going viral on social media, where she has 405k followers on Instagram and 317.1k followers on ‘X’. Dimple is seeking her second consecutive term from Mainpuri, the seat earlier held by SP patron and her father-in-law Mulayam Singh Yadav. This time, she has been fielded and will have her candidature against state minister Jaiveer Singh of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Prasad Yadav of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Mainpuri will vote on May 7. Like a seasoned politician, Aditi Yadav greets elders and women with folded hands while waving at children and youths of her age. In anticipation, she is greeted with garlands, bouquets and old men could be seen putting a pagdi (turban) on her head. (IPA Service)