West Bengal: Mad Rush for Saffron Ticket in Malda Dakshin, 15 so Far Lay Claim to Single Seat

Fifteen people from the BJP have expressed their eagerness to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Malda Dakshin, where the party lost to Congress by a narrow margin in 2019. The BJP is pinning its hope on the fact that the seat may be given to Congress's winning candidate Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury's son who lost from Sujapur seat in the Assembly polls.

Malda (West Bengal):The Malda Dakshin (South) seat has abruptly sprung to the centre of saffron politics in West Bengal, thanks to the increasing number of candidates who expressed their willingness to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from the seat.

A whopping 15 people have already approached the BJP's district and state leadership saying they would like to be fielded from the seat. Interestingly, BJP had lost Malda Dakshin seat to Congress in the 2019 elections, by a narrow margin.

Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury of the Congress had won Malda Dakshin Lok Sabha seat by 8222 votes. BJP candidate Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury of the BJP managed to steer ahead of her Trinamool Congress and Congress rivals from Englishbazar, Manikchak and Baishnabnagar Assembly segments. Eventually Khan Choudhury managed smart leads from Mothabari, Sujapur, Farakka and Samserganj Assembly segments, which proved decisive for him.

The tables were swiftly turned as Bengal went to the Assembly polls in 2021. Barring Englishbazar where BJP scored over others, Trinamool Congress surged ahead and won from the rest six Assembly segments, which form the Malda Dakshin seat. Congress was relegated to the third position from all seven Assembly segments.

When the panchayat polls took place last year, the picture had changed a bit. The once bastion of the Congress, which was led by former union minister and state Congress president ABA Gani Khan Choudhury, shifted towards Congress. The grand old party's performance in Lok Sabha polls was far better than the Assembly elections and in the panchayat polls. Trinamool was a close second and BJP was pushed down to third position.

Sources in the BJP feel that the failing health condition of Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury could prompt the Congress leadership to propose the name of his son Isha Khan Choudhury as a possible candidate from Malda Dakshin seat. BJP knows that Isha had lost miserably in the last Assembly elections from Sujapur seat and the saffron party is thus hoping to make a comeback and reverse its 2019 results.

Amlan Bhaduri, the leader of opposition in Englishbazar Municipaltiy, former district BJP president Gobindo Chandra Mondal, youth leader Biswajit Roy, former Zilla Parishad chairman Gour Chandra Mondal, former MLA of Baisnabnagar Swadhin Sarkar, present district president Partha Sarathi Ghosh, party leader Ajit Das, candidate of 2019 elections Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury who is the present MLA from English Bazar are among those who have expressed willingness to contest from Malda Dakshin Lok Sabha seat.

"We have already received 10 applications at the district office from various persons who want to contest from Malda Dakshin. We know that some more applications have directly gone to BJP state headquarters. We are sure that the leadership will take a conscious decision," said BJP district president Partha Sarathi Ghosh.

Political watchers in Malda say, the mad rush to become a potential BJP candidate from Malda Dakshin Lok Sabha seat might not always be in the political math of the seat. On condition of anonymity, they said that money flows along the Indo-Bangla border which also has several kilometres of open riverine border that comes within the limits of Malda Dakshin seat.

From smuggling to drug trade, from illegal sand mining to coercing transporters to pay in return to plying trucks to Bangladesh, money flows easily in the bordering areas of Malda. And everyone who has some political clout, is a beneficiary.

"The amount that changes hands in all illegal work, is huge. It is easy to understand why anyone and everyone eyes a ticket from Malda Dakshin," a political analyst said.

Be it dirty money or political aspirations or the mathematics of elections, there is already a beeline of aspirants wanting to contest from Malda Dakshin.

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