Congress veteran Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has returned to West Bengal politics to contest the upcoming Assembly election after three decades. The former Congress leader in the Lok Sabha and five-term MP, Chowdhury, 70, is the party’s candidate from his home turf Baharampur. In an interview with The Indian Express, he speaks on multiple issues, ranging from the Election Commission (EC)’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to the Congress’s poll prospects, to the Muslim vote, among others. Excerpts:
How do you see the Bengal elections being held amid the SIR row?
I think free and fair elections cannot be held without having fair electoral rules. It’s the constitutional right of common people. Why should people suffer? It is not the fault of voters if their names are being deleted or if they are being stopped from exercising this right. Both the EC and the state government should be held responsible for it as voters are not able to exercise their rights because of their mistakes and inefficiency. People are running from pillar to post only to enlist their names in the voter lists. As regards (SIR) tribunals, do you think that poor people, who are striving hard to earn their livelihood, can afford lawyers for the tribunals? I think this is a mockery of democracy being done by the EC and the Mamata Banerjee government. If necessary, elections may be deferred till all genuine voters are allowed to vote. Otherwise, it will be a blot on the EC.
Why are you contesting the Assembly election after 30 years?
I contested my first Assembly election in 1991 from Nabagram, which is just a little away from my city (Baharampur). Nabagram was dubbed “Vietnam of Murshidabad” by the then ruling CPM-led Left’s workers. Still, I decided to throw down the gauntlet to the Left regime. On the polling day, I faced a horrible situation. I was fired upon by CPM workers. I took shelter in a polling booth and held the presiding and police officers there hostage since I thought this would deter CPM goons from attacking me.
Workers with a newly printed banner with Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhury
I took the revolver of my security person, and fired back at those miscreants to protect myself. During that time, there was no internet or WhatsApp. So the ruling party spread a rumour about my death. Congress workers went into panic and left their booths, which were captured by CPI(M) goons. I lost the seat by 1,300 votes. Thereafter, I was even charged with some criminal cases and was forced to flee away from my district.
I tried to return to Nabagram in the 1996 polls. I filed my nomination and campaigned through cassettes. And by the blessings of God and common people, I won the seat by 20,000 votes.
After three years, late Pranab Mukherjee asked me to contest for the Lok Sabha election from Baharampur. I told him that I didn’t even know the spelling of the word Parliament, but he reassured me, and I went on to win the constituency by 96,000 votes. I have since been elected from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat four more times. But in 2024, due to communal polarisation and a conspiracy by TMC, I lost the seat.
In the upcoming election, the Congress asked me to fight as the party is weak. Being a foot soldier of the party, I am duty-bound to abide by its directive.
How tough is the fight for the Congress in this election?
Very hard… because power remains with Mamata Banerjee. With assistance from Congress, Mamata assumed power in Bengal. Then she started decimating Congress by hook or crook. In course of time, secular forces diminished in Bengal. Taking advantage of the political situation, BJP filled the vacuum, while the Congress and the Left gradually lost their ground.
Unlike the previous Assembly polls, the Congress has now decided to go alone, deciding against forging an alliance with the Left. What would the workers of both camps do now?
Yes, this time the Congress is fighting alone. Those workers who belong to the Communist parties, they will be working for their nominees. And we will be working for our party’s candidates.
“In Murshidabad, Muslims are well aware of our position. They have high confidence in Rahul Gandhi. You can’t imagine the trust Muslims have in him. They support the Rahul-led Congress.”
How do you think Muslims in Bengal will vote this time?
The state’s Muslim community is getting disenchanted from the Mamata Banerjee dispensation. Not only on the Bengali migrant issue, there is also the Waqf issue. Muslims’ expectations from Mamata Banerjee have been dashed. Another issue is that of SIR.
The Muslim group always votes in a strategic manner. Whenever they apprehend that a division of votes could lead to BJP win, they cast their votes in favour of Mamata Banerjee. We don’t have any presence. But they also vote for us whenever they find that we are able to win (in certain seats).
I mean Muslims will vote either in favour of TMC or Congress, depending on the winnability index. Mamata Banerjee knows it very well. That is why in 2021, she played the card of “No NRC”. This time she is playing the card of “No SIR” because of her intervention in the Supreme Court on the matter.
Congress veteran Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
She is a good dramatist and deceiver. She has exhausted all her resources to win over Muslim voters over the years.
In Murshidabad, Muslims are well aware of our position. They have high confidence in Rahul Gandhi. You can’t imagine the trust Muslims have in him. They support the Rahul-led Congress.
But in Bengal, our problem is that we don’t have the requisite organisational structure, which is also needed for any electoral success. There lies our problem. We have been striving hard across Bengal to make our presence felt though, targeting districts like Purulia, Murshidabad, Malda and North Dinajpur to ensure Congress win besides an increase in our vote share.
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