Naser supporters make going tough for Mousam

DANCE Of DEMOCRACY

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Malda/Kolkata: The family feud over the Congress candidate for Malda North seems to be snowballing into a major confrontation. Agitating supporters of Abu Naser Khan Choudhury on Monday threatened to run amok if their man didn’t get the ticket. The Congress high command has already announced the name of Naser’s niece Mousam Noor as the candidate. State Congress president Pranab Mukherjee refused to comment on the dispute, saying that Sonia Gandhi would take a final call on it. “AICC has finalised the candidature of Mausam Benazir Noor. Any change can be made by only Sonia Gandhi,” he said. Naser Khan is in Delhi to grab the Malda North ticket. In the morning, Naser’s supporters thronged the Kotwali residence of the Khan family. “We want Lebuda, or else we’ll stop Mousam from campaigning,” shouted Hannan Ali, Tiya, Meser Ali, Mohtab and other North Malda Congress leaders. Naser’s brother and Malda South candidate Abu Hasem Khan was present too. He, too, favours his brother over his niece. “Mousam has won the Assembly bypolls from Sujapur only two months ago. It won’t go down well with the voters if she now leaves Sujapur for the parliament seat. Her nomination will affect the party’s prospects in South Malda too,” the district Congress president held. Scared with the unruly crowd coming inside Kotwali, Mousam got in touch with her supporters and the police. The crowd dispersed only after police reached the spot. What may have fuelled the demonstration was a comment by Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday. He said in Murshidabad that he would talk to Hasem Khan in a day or two before finalizing the Malda North candidate. Raiganj candidate Deepa Das Munshi, too, is not in favour of Mousam. “I asked her not to fight the LS polls. Rather she should serve the people of Sujapur. We wanted Sabitri Mitra for this seat. This family squabble might cost us the seat,” she said. Mousam campaigned in Chanchal, Gajole and Ratua on Monday. Pranab, Mamata discuss alliance Kolkata: Pranab Mukherjee on Monday evening had a discussion on the telephone with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on the modalities of the Congress-Trinamool alliance. Earlier in the day, Congress and Trinamool leaders attended a Youth Congress meeting in south Kolkata, where PCC working president Pradip Bhattacharya asked voters to ensure Mamata’s victory. He said all Congress leaders were campaigning jointly with Trinamool. TNN