PTI
 
Kolkata, Apr 7: Ahead of the Assembly elections, the opposition Congress in West Bengal is facing a rebellion from the party strongman in its bastion in Murshidabad district, where it won all the three parliamentary seats, including Jangipur held by defence minister Pranab Mukherjee in the last Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress strongman and MP from Berhampore, Adhir Chowdhury, said that he would campaign for party rebels to contest as independents against the official nominees in the three seats.

He said that it was in protest against the high command’s decision to nominate candidates against his advice, when he was the president of the party in Murshidabad.

Chowdhury has been engaged in a running feud with three sitting MLAs in the district and has urged the high command to deny them tickets alleging they were CPI(M) agents.

Chowdhury is considered one of the few of the state party’s mass leaders and his target is Congress legislature party leader of the outgoing assembly Atish Sinha, scion of a local royal family.

He has demanded that Sinha’s candidature from the Kandi seat in Murshidabad and also that of Mayarani Pal in Berhampore and Niyamat Sheikh at Hariharpara be withdrawn or the else the WBPCC prepared to face a full-scale revolt in the district Congress.

He would stay also away from Berhampore, the district headquarters of Murshidabad, till the end of the polls, he said. “Since I will work for independents, it will not be ethical for me to function from the DCC headquarters at Berhampore,” he said.

Chowdhury claimed that the way candidates had been selected would give a walkover to the ruling Left Front.

"In my hometurf, I cannot give a walk over to CPI(M), RSP and BJP candidates," he said, claiming that rebels had better prospects of winning than the official nominees.

Asked whether he felt that he was let down by Pranab Mukherjee, who is also the state party chief in selection of candidates, he said, "I have serious doubt actually whether he is really able to exert influence on PCC leaders."

Chowdhury has started campaigning for party rebel candidate Monoj Chakraborty, backed by him for the Berhampore seat.

Asked whether his acts would not tantamount to anti-party activity, the firebrand Congress leader said, "Apparently it looks so, but the ground reality is different."

The Pradesh Congress leadership has been silent over Chowdhury’s diatribes against the candidate selection.

"No comment," said the West Bengal Congress working president Pradip Bhattacherjee.

In the last 2001 Assembly polls, when Congress fought the elections in alliance with the Trinamool Congress, it won in six of the 19 assembly seats.

Chowdhury has an organisational network in the district, which could match the CPI(M), and its surge over the leftists in the district was evident when it wrested control from the Left Front of the Zilla Parishad in 2003.

Following up the success, it took a lead over the Left Front nominees in 18 of the 19-Assembly segment in the 2004 polls.