Oppn faces rebellion test

Congs Boudi takes on Didi in North Dinajpur.

Congress vs Independent,Trinamool Congress vs Independent,Congress vs SUCI,apart from the usual Congress vs Left Front,Trinamool vs Left equations in North Dinajpur could not have been more complicated.

In effect,most of it boils down to Didi vs Boudi,a prestige fight. Didi,or Mamata Banerjee,has fielded Trinamool candidates in four of the nine seats in a district that is traditionally a Congress stronghold. Boudi,or sister-in-law Deepa Das Munshi,has thrown her weight behind rebels from the Congress who are contesting against the alliances official candidates.

In the absence of her husband Priya Ranjan Das Munshi,who is ailing,Deepa,the Raignaj MP,represents the face of the local Congress leadership. She says she is campaigning for the Congress but makes no secret of the fact that she also supports the Independent candidates morally.

Deepa has said that the Trinamool Congress,with its organisational base being what it is,does not deserve to contest more than one seat in the district.

Congress rebels Kanhailal Agarwal,Hamidur Rahman and Chittaranjan Roy are contesting against Trinamool candidates in Islampur,Chopra and Hemtabad. These are the men who fight the Left here,get beaten up all through the year,yet they are denied tickets. I can understand how humiliated they feel, she says.

She cites the example of Agarwal,chairman of Islampur Municipality since 1999. Agarwal himself says,People here know only Congress faces. I am confident that neither the CPM nor the Trinamool will win; I will.

Chittaranjan Roy is the sitting MLA of Raiganj. A person who won with a huge margin last time has to contest as an Independent; I am morally supporting this fight. I see no reason why I should be blamed,because all these candidates resigned before filing their nominations, says Deepa.

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She walked in a rally with Chittaranjan Roy and Kanhailal Agarwal when they went to file their papers. On record,she says she went for Ghulam Rabbyani,the Congress candidate from Goalpokhor.

Mamata knows her partys organisational strength cannot match Deepas clout. She hopes to get back at the Congress with the help of other rebels. The SUCI,part of the alliance,has fielded candidates in three seats. These three are among the Congresss share of five seats; the SUCI has stayed out of the Trinamools four seats. District Trinamool leaders say they are backing the SUCI candidates because the Congress rebels have not withdrawn.

We are hurt at not getting the 17 seats we demanded from the Trinamool but we will not fight against them. But we want nothing to do with the Congress and we will fight against them, says Dulal Rajbangshi,district secretary of SUCI.

The Trinamool too faces rebellion within. Rabbiul Bux,first chosen as the Trinamool candidate from Itahar constituency and then dropped for his criminal record,is contesting against the partys Amal Acharya.