After Mamata’s jibe, Pranab son hits back: Want forces in Jangipur against TMC terror

“We saw what happened in Cooch Behar, we are facing the same kind of problems. During the panchayat polls last year, TMC goons did not allow us to even file nominations…. We have demanded that all booths in Jangipur be declared sensitive and paramilitary forces be posted – not just in booths but also en route,” Mukherjee told The Indian Express on phone from Jangipur.

Jangipur votes on April 23.

On Wednesday, Banerjee had said in Uttar Dinajpur: “The Congress has a secret political understanding with BJP. The RSS is helping Pranab Mukherjee’s son and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to win from Jangipur and Baharampur (respectively).”

While there is no love lost between Chowdhury and Banerjee, the former having taken a belligerent anti-TMC stand during his tenure as state Congress president, targetting Mukherjee took many by surprise. For years, there was a perception that Banerjee, honouring her ties with Mukherjee senior, had made things easy for the son by not fielding strong candidates in the seat, which elected the former President to Lok Sabha twice – in 2004 and 2009.

In 2012, when Abhijit fought a bypoll there for the first time, after Pranab Mukherjee vacated the seat to become the President, TMC had not even fielded a candidate. In 2014, Abhijit won by 8,161 votes against CPI(M)’s Mozaffar Hossain.

In this backdrop, Banerjee’s remarks is being seen by a section of state Congress leaders as an attempt to steer the conversation towards Pranab Mukherjee’s presence at an RSS function last year.

Congress is known to have an edge in the three adjacent seats of Baharampur (known as Adhir Chowdhury’s fortress), Murishidabad (one of the seats that stalled the Left-Congress alliance), and Jangipur, all with a significant Muslim population. Mamata’s statement is seen as a not-so-subtle hint to the community that otherwise is solidly behind the TMC in Bengal.

Interestingly, Mukherjee is the only Hindu among candidates of the major parties in Jangipur, a constituency with over 61 per cent Muslims. Even the BJP has fielded a Muslim candidate, Mafuja Khatun.

While Abhijit did not comment on the RSS jibe, state Congress chief Somen Mitra hit back, accusing the TMC, in fact, of having an understanding with the RSS and BJP in the state.