Developments in two states, around 2,350 kilometres apart, have shown that seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections is no easy matter for the clutch of over 25 opposition parties. Two prominent seats, both seen as ‘Congress bastions’, are being targeted by other Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners themselves.
After the Communist Party of India (CPI) fielded its national leader, Annie Raja, from Wayanad in Kerala even before the Congress could renominate Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee has thrown down the gauntlet in West Bengal.
The Chief Minister and All India Trinamool Congress – popularly known as TMC – Chairperson not only went on to publicly announce all the 42 candidates on Sunday, but sprung a surprise naming cricketer Yusuf Pathan from Baharampur.
Ironically, Banerjee is credited with coining the acronym INDIA. She is also said to have first proposed the name of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge as the face of the grouping. Both these issues irked Nitish Kumar to the extent that he walked out to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) soon after, say insiders. This, despite the fact that it was he who successfully persuaded top leaders to sit together for the first time in Patna in June last year.
Seven months later, the Congress managed to reach seat adjustments in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana and Goa, while Punjab and West Bengal proved tough. Banerjee initially agreed to part with two seats in Bengal, but some of her close associates say that she would have acceded to three more seats where victory for her may not be forthcoming, like Darjeeling.
In exchange, she sought seats in Assam, Manipur and Meghalaya, said leaders close to her. In fact, TMC leader in Meghalaya Mukul Sangma snubbed Congress leaders on Sunday for criticising his party’s decision to go alone in Bengal. Alleging that the Congress is “delinked with ground reality”, he contended that the grand old party announced its candidates for Meghalaya “without waiting”.
Insiders also pointed out that being the astute politician she is, Banerjee is aware that Narendra Modi will return for the third time as Prime Minister. In that case, regional parties would be looking to maximise their representation in the Lok Sabha.
Also, while she had excellent rapport with Rajiv Gandhi and shared cordial relations with Sonia, she did not have the same ties with Rahul whom she has occasionally referred to as the cuckoo – a bird which arrives only in monsoon.
In fact, most of the parties that the Congress is befriending were founded by leaders who broke out of it. Even the TMC was formed in 1998 by Banerjee after she walked out of the Congress with her supporters.
Meanwhile, her party has decided to renominate 16 sitting MPs including 12 women. One of them is Mahua Moitra from Krishnanagar, who was expelled on charges of cash-for-questions towards the end of the last session of Lok Sabha. Despite her adversaries in the constituency or in Kolkata headquarters, Moitra has successfully been able to fend off all attempts at dislodging her, thanks to Banerjee’s blessings and her own prowess in shrewd political and social manoeuvres.
Elsewhere, in Bishnupur constituency, the TMC nominated Sujata, the estranged wife of BJP candidate Saumitra Khan. In 2014, the latter was elected from this constituency on a TMC ticket. But in January 2019, Khan switched loyalties and was expelled by the TMC.
A month later, Khan was alleged to have extorted money from job aspirants on false promises. Under legal orders, he was allowed to file his nomination papers but barred from entering Bankura, the district where his constituency fell.
His wife had then campaigned for him, and he won by over 78,000 votes against his closest TMC rival. But the couple soon fell apart and Sujata returned to the TMC in December 2020.
Banerjee has scripted another story in Baharampur, naming the former Kolkata Knight Riders star Yusuf Pathan. Notably, it was among the constituencies she was supposed to have initially considered for the Congress.
Son of a muezzin, Yusuf Pathan was born in Baroda and was a member of the Indian team that won the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 Cricket World Cup.
Baharampur has been represented since 1999 by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, currently leader of the Congress party in the 17th Lok Sabha. He was earlier Union Minister of State in the Railway Ministry under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He became the President of West Bengal Pradesh Congress in 2014.
Despite the Congress high command’s overtures to the TMC for a unified opposition alliance against the BJP, Chowdhury remained a strong critic of Mamata Banerjee. The veteran Congress leader has never seen eye to eye with her. While many Congress leaders have since changed their allegiance, the 68-year-old – nicknamed ‘Robin Hood of Murshidabad’ – remained steadfastly loyal to his party.
He was once known for his daring encounters with Left cadres during the Communist rule in West Bengal and also for charity among the people of his constituency which falls in Murhsidabad district. However, he is said to have mellowed after losing his daughter in 2006.
Though Chowdhury could not be dethroned on his home turf since 1999, he lost significant ground in the 2019 election. He polled about 45.5% of the votes in the last Lok Sabha polls against the 50.5% he cornered in 2014. Meanwhile, the TMC vote share increased from about 19.7% previously to around 39.3% in the last Lok Sabha election.
While the margin of victory for Chowdhury in 2014 was over 3.5 lakh, in 2019 it fell to less than 81 thousand votes. About 63% of the population here are Muslims who, according to some analysts, consider the TMC a stronger opponent to the BJP than the Congress. The latter has been losing ground across the country in recent times, thus eroding confidence among minorities, including in this constituency.
Chowdhury was quick in hitting out soon after Pathan’s nomination, alleging that the cricketer has been fielded to “help the BJP”.
Another surprise candidate is Kirti Azad, son of former Chief Minister of Bihar Bhagwat Jha Azad (1988-1989) and member of India's 1983 World Cup winning team. He was named the TMC candidate from Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency. BJP's SS Ahluwalia won this seat in 2019.
Among others, the TMC supremo has reposed her trust in film stars like Deepak Adhikari ‘Dev’ from Ghatal constituency while nominating popular TV show host Rachana Banerjee who will take on fellow film actor and BJP MP Locket Chatterjee from Hooghly.
Another cine star and MLA, June Maliah, will be the TMC candidate from Midnapore while Debangshu Bhattacharya, who coined “khela hobe” has been fielded from Tamluk.
Footnote: The list bears the impact of the TMC General Secretary and Chief Minister’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee with many names considered close to him.
(Jayanta Bhattacharya is an independent journalist. These are the writer's views.)
