Mamata candidate withdraws from Rejinagar contest, changes decision later

Mamata Banerjee’s Rejinagar bypoll candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury announced his withdrawal on Saturday, citing harassment of party workers and difficulties with the new election symbol, but reversed the decision within hours after speaking to Banerjee and receiving security assurances

Kolkata: In a dramatic turn of events, Mamata Banerjee’s party’s Rejinagar by-election candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury on Saturday announced his withdrawal from the contest, only to retract his decision less than two hours later and assert that he would be in the October 6 poll battle as per the wishes of the party supremo.

The development came a day after Banerjee’s party’s Nandigram by-election nominee Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew her candidature following a meeting with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.

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Chowdhury, a former TMC MLA, told reporters at his home in Murshidabad earlier in the day: “It is becoming difficult for me to motivate grassroots workers who have been facing regular harassment. Police have arrested many of our workers, slapping false cases. Also, it is an onerous task to familiarise the electorate with the new ‘footballer’ symbol in such a short time. In this given situation, I informed Mamata di last evening about my decision (not to contest)… Let’s see.”

However, about an hour-and-a-half later, the picture changed completely. At another hurriedly convened press meet, Chowdhury declared that following his initial announcement, the party’s top leadership and Mamata Banerjee herself had spoken to him, following which he reconsidered and reversed his decision.

“I will be contesting the bypoll. We are in Didi’s party and we cannot do anything outside her wishes. So, following Didi’s instructions, I am retaining my candidature,” Chowdhury said, stating that Banerjee had directed him not to quit the poll fray.

Chowdhury also visited the local Beldanga police station and spoke to officers. Emerging from the police station, he claimed that the police administration had assured them of the safety and security of party workers.

“I have been assured of security by the police after the supremo (Banerjee) intervened. I have met officers of the Beldanga police station and they have also assured me and my cadre of security during campaigning,” he said.

“Even if only 10 workers stand by me, I will take them along and begin a door-to-door campaign,” Chowdhury added, expressing confidence that he would receive all necessary assistance for campaigning in accordance with Banerjee’s instructions.

The Election Commission has allotted the ‘footballer’ symbol to the Mamata faction of the Trinamool Congress and assigned it the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ amid a bitter feud with the rebel grouping over the party’s name and ‘flowers-and-grass’ symbol. The rival faction led by Arup Roy has been awarded the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘envelope’ symbol.

Banerjee’s Nandigram candidate Sanchita Pradhan Dey, who lost her job due to a teacher recruitment scam, met Adhikari along with her husband Satyajit on Friday before withdrawing her nomination, a day ahead of the deadline. The reasons for her decision were not immediately clear.

Faced with a sudden vacancy, Banerjee announced support for Congress’s Nandigram candidate Milan Pradhan, describing the Congress as a “sister party” and saying the move was intended to strengthen the INDIA bloc ahead of the October 6 bypolls.

However, hours later, Pradhan was arrested in connection with criminal cases lodged against him during the 2007 anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district.

Banerjee and her camp accused the BJP government of “acting in an authoritarian manner to crush dissent and win the bypoll by a huge margin”.

Reacting to the allegation, BJP leader and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar said such charges were expected to be levelled by a “party centred on one person, whose activists had carried out attacks on the then opposition BJP after the 2021 Assembly polls”.

Following Nandigram, the initial announcement by the party’s candidate in Rejinagar that he would withdraw, followed by Rabiul Alam’s sudden U-turn, added further intrigue to the state’s by-election battle, which has already witnessed intense political drama.