Malda: Poll pundits predict a nail biting finish in the South Malda Lok Sabha constituency with multiple factors adding up to this.
South Malda Parliamentary constituency with a large percentage of minority community voters has been labelled as a Congress bastion with the family of late ABA Ghanikhan Chowdhury, iconic Congress leader of Malda residing here. Sitting MP Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury is the younger brother of late Ghanikhan Chowdhury and his son Isha Khan Chowdhury is being fielded by the Congress this Lok Sabha election.
The other candidates include Sreerupa Mitra Choudhury of BJP and Shahnawaz Ali Raihan of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Sreerupa Mitra Choudhury, MLA of English Bazar, came close to her victory in 2019 but lost the poll battle to Abu Hasem by a meagre margin of 8,222 votes in a nail biting finish. On the other hand, Raihan, a researcher, is a fresh entry into politics.
The ‘safe house’ of Congress has already suffered dents from both TMC and BJP. In the 2021 Assembly polls, 6 Assembly constituencies (AC) out of 7 went to TMC and only the English Bazar to BJP. The legacy of Khan Chowdhury family is once again expected to produce dividends for the Congress candidate but both BJP and TMC have proven their worth in the seat as in 2019 Parliamentary elections, Congress secured almost 4.44 lakh, BJP 4.36 lakh and TMC, not far behind, 3.51 lakh votes.
With a huge percentage (almost 60) of Muslim voters in the segment, Congress is aiming to gain public support in the name of family legacy and long history of serving people. TMC is hitting at the failure of both Union Ministry and former Congress MPs to solve the agelong Ganga erosion problems while putting up a strong antipathy to CAA and NRC. On the other hand, the BJP candidate is focusing on the non-Muslim populated areas to concentrate the votes into the saffron account. Khan Chowdhury said: “Our political thoughts are purely secular and everyone knows about late Ghanikhan Chowdhury and his contributions to Malda but we never ever make a propaganda of our works. I am sure of the Congress’s win from the seat once again.”
Raihan said: “I saw a BJP candidate organising ‘yagna’ to remove erosion but Mamata Banerjee is allocating funds for the same. So who will the public choose? The Congress MPs have had enough chances given by people but couldn’t do anything. Now we can make a difference.”
Biswapriya Roychoudhury, member of BJP state executive council, said: “BJP is going to win the seat with at least 1 lakh margin. Irrespective of caste and creed, everyone will vote for Modi for a stable government.”