Left MPs to raise EC role

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April.30: Left Front MPs will raise the issue of the Election Commission’s “double standards” vis-a-vis the Assembly elections in West Bengal, in both Houses of Parliament, CPI-M MP and chairman of the Railway Standing Committee, Mr Basudeb Acharia, said. Addressing an interactive session at the Malda College auditorium today, Mr Acharia said: “Being a constitutional body, the EC’s role could have been much more transparent. Instead, it has hatched a conspiracy against West Bengal. We will raise this issue in both Houses of Parliament, seeking justice.” “For Assam and Tamil Nadu, the EC has been toeing a soft line but it is particularly harsh against West Bengal for reasons better known to them,” Mr Acharia said. He also criticised the recent nuclear deal between India and the USA and accused the Congress-led UPA government of ruining the country’s interests. “The UPA government has failed on many counts, such as non-implementation of labour laws in special economic zones, providing agricultural loans to farmers and so on,” he said. Mr Acharia also lambasted the Union railway minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, for increasing the fare for long-distance journes. Today’s interactive session was organised by Malda Left Front members as a part of the election campaign. Many Congress supporters also took part in the session.

Acharia’s pledge

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April.30: Chairman of the Railway Standing Committee, Mr Basudeb Acharia, today assured that he would try to solve some local problems related to the railway department.Representatives of the Malda Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce today said the problems pertained to the shifting of rake points and labourers’ duty. They said the railway authorities wanted rake clearance day and night but it would be difficult for them and the labourers to follow the system, owing to lack of infrastructure at Malda town station. Local residents submitted a deputation to Mr Acharia to seek permission from the railway authorities for the construction of a subway at Rathbari level crossing in the interest of thousands of residents who live on the western side of the railway track.Residents of Ward No 24 led by Mr Ram Prasad Ghosh told Mr Acharia that the railway authorities wanted to close the present railway gate because of a flyover.But in practice, the flyover which connects National Highway 34 to the market, offices, schools, and colleges is not use. The railway gate is more effective. #

L F gets a lashing

Statesman News Service

MALDA/RAIGANJ, April 28: The Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi began by acknowledging ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury’s contributions while addressing an election rally at the South Malda College ground in the Kaliachak Assembly constituency today. At the same time, the UPA chairperson did not hesitate to take on the Left Front government’s failures. Mrs Gandhi described the late leader as an architect of Malda. “His contribution to the party was immense and he was nicknamed “Malda” for his attachment to the district he represented,” Mrs Gandhi said. She called upon the people to vote generously for the Congress candidates of Malda to pay tribute to Khan Choudhury. Mrs Gandhi also suggested that her partymen follow his ideology. Although the Left Front has supported the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre from the outside, Mrs Gandhi criticised the former’s “poor governance” in West Bengal. “It was during the tenure of the Congress that West Bengal had progressed. Despite ruling the state for nearly three decades, the Left Front has failed to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Bengal,” she said. Mrs Gandhi wondered why the menace of unemployment and poor law and order persist in West Bengal. “The UPA government has never turned down any demand by the West Bengal government. Still the state has plenty of problems,” she said. Regarding the perennial problem of flood and erosion in the Malda and Murshidabad districts, she said the UPA government had formed a special task force to look into the matter. Later, at Kaliyaganj in North Dinajpur, where Mrs Gandhi addressed another election rally, a 60,000-strong crowd greeted the Congress supremo, reports our correspondent from Raiganj. Defying scorching heat, people waited through out the day to listen to Mrs Gandhi. Around 3.45 p.m., Mrs Gandhi, accompanied by AICC general secretary, Mrs Margaret Alva, reached the Kaliyaganj College ground amid thunderous applause by the crowd. Just like she did in Kaliachak earlier in the day, Mrs Gandhi rapped the state government at Kaliyaganj, too. She accused the Left Front government of ruining the interests of the people. “The state government has been running with a deficit of Rs 12,000 crore despite getting all sorts of help from the Centre,” Mrs Gandhi said. Union parliamentary affairs minister, Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, was also present on the dais when Mrs Gandhi addressed the rally and urged the people to make the Congress candidates victorious.

Brinda turns heat on Congress

Statesman News Service

MANIKCHAK (Malda), April 26: CPI-M politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP, Mrs Brinda Karat said on Wednesday that the UPA government which would not run for a single day without support of the Left Front in Parliament was not at all bothered to change its anti-people policies. “The nature of the Congress would never change,” Mrs Karat said in an election rally at Manikchak organised by the CPI-M-backed women’s wing where thousands of working women in unorganised sectors assembled. Stressing the need for the uplift of poor women in the country, she said that the UPA government should either change their policies or be ready to face the music. She said that the LF has been supporting the Congress-led UPA government based on particular “programmes” and just to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party from coming to power again. “We will review the UPA government’s performance after the results of the Assembly elections,” Mrs Karat told reporters. She said that the Left Front government in West Bengal would not follow the theory of capitalism like Andhra Pradesh where thousands of farmers committed suicide. Mrs Karat equalised the Congress and the BJP on the issue of Bengali speaking migrated labourers who are working in Gujarat, Maharashtra, New Delhi and other states. “In the name of Bangladeshis, the state governments mainly the Narendra Modi government always tries to harass the Bengali speaking Muslim people who are permanent residents of Malda and Murshidabad,” she said. Criticising the policy of Central government she said: “The Central government is busy in implementing the Tobacco Act and spreading consciousness about the negative effects of smoking but not for the bidi labourers’ health who are suffering from tuberculosis and other diseases.” She also spoke about the local problems mainly erosion of the Ganges in Manikchak Assembly segment and demanded joint efforts from Jharkhand and West Bengal for solution of the disputed char lands’ rights. “The Central government should take initiative so that both the states can solve the problem jointly and the Central government should allot sufficient funds,” she said. Mrs Karat said: “Two Union ministers, Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and Mr Pranab Mukherjee were aware of the problems of erosion and speak about it only when they are here but not in New Delhi.”

CPM MLA heckled

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 26: Mr Subhendu Chowdhury, the CPI-M candidate for Malda Assembly constituency and a sitting MLA, was heckled at Dakatpukur by a group of miscreants yesterday while he was on his way to Yatradanga for poll campaign, police officials said today. Authorities concerned informed that it is yet to be ascertained whether Congress or Trinamul Congress supporters were behind the attack. Reportedly, no one has been arrested so far as no name was mentioned in the FIR lodged with the police.The CPI-M district secretary, Mr Jiban Moitra, narrated that Mr Subhendu Chowdhury’s vehicle was intercepted by a group of people, who attacked him when he got down from the vehicle to inquire what the matter was. Mr Moitra stated that it is quite possible that the attackers were Congress supporters, who also assaulted some CPI-M workers and damaged two vehicles after Mr Choudhury hurriedly departed. CPI-M party sources said that some people propagating a vote boycott had rounded up the candidate demonstrating black flags but the reason behind it was still unknown, as the party did take up measures to solve problems regarding basic amenities during the last five years. The incident, however, has failed to evoke surprise among CPI-M workers in other parts of Malda. They stated that the attack was a fallout of not remaining in touch with the general public in the last five years. CPI-M members in the English Bazaar municipal area that comes under the Malda Assembly segment said that they too are facing problems as the MLA never visited the area in the last five years. However, those CPI-M workers who have remained in touch with the locals are now organising public meetings in favour of Mr Chowdhury to rectify matters. The CPI-M workers are facing problems in asking people to vote for Mr Chowdhury,” a local CPI-M leader said.

Governor turns journalist !

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 25: The Governor, Mr Gopal Krishna Gandhi, today interacted with villagers, particularly children, living in the char lands in the mid-Ganges. The objective of his visit to the char lands was to know about the plight of the people living there.Mr Gandhi asked the people about what basic amenities they get from the government and what was the education and health scenario here. He reportedly asked the officials: “Who is looking after the area, West Bengal or Jharkhand? Mr Gandhi was taken aback, seeing that minors of the char lands were forced to work to earn their livelihood. While returning from a char land, he plucked some bitter gourds and kept them in a basket. He interacted with a boy to know about his daily life and status of his family members.Mr Gandhi expressed his desire to meet the boy when the latter was crossing the Ganges. He was surprised to see that the boy could sail through the Ganges with the help of a small boat made out of corrugated tin. The Governor started for the char lands at around 7-45 a.m. from Manikchak Ghaat and visited the left bank of the Ganges, particularly the erosion-hit belt at Panchanandapur, and expressed his desire to study the char lands where erosion victims are struggling for survival. The Malda district magistrate, Mr Abhijit Choudhuri, SP Mr DK Mondal, irrigation engineers and a medical team accompanied him.Mr Gandhi, after returning to Manikchak Ghaat, went to Char No 2, through the centrall channel of the Ganges, which surfaced after eroding the entire area of Kakri Bandha Jhow Bona gram panchayat of Kaliachak II block of Malda a few years back.The gram panchayat area has been wiped out of the block map officially and the people of Bengal and Jharkhand are now living there temporarily.The people of the char lands told the Governor that they had been living there for the past eight months and that they shift during the monsoon when the char lands are inundated by the Ganges.After interacting with the children, the Governor found that children here are devoid of proper education facilities. He also noted down how and why they leave schools.Mr Gandhi was reportedly interested in visiting a particular area to know the actual scenario there after getting reports from responsible officers.Hundreds of men and women met him when he returned to Manikchak Ghaat at around 11-15 a.m.He heard calmly about their problems and assured them that he would discuss their problems with the authorities concerned. #

Sonia's Friday fad doesn't work

Statesman News Service

RAIGANJ/MALDA, April 25: Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi will visit North Dinajpur on Friday to address an election rally at the Parbati Sundari High School ground at Kaliyaganj. Informing this here today, Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, the Union I&B and parliamentary affairs minister, said: “Prior to reaching Kaliyaganj at 2 pm, Mrs Gandhi will address two more rallies ~ one at Jangipur and the other at Kaliachak in Malda.” All Congress leaders have been instructed to announce Mrs Gandhi’s visit to grassroots level workers of the party, Mr Das Munshi said. On the other hand, chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, will address an election rally at Kaliyaganj on 3 May in favour of Mr Nanigopal Roy and Mr Narmada Roy, CPI-M contestants from Kaliyaganj in North Dinajpur and Kushmondi in South Dinajpur, respectively, Mr Bharatendu Choudhury, CPI-M zonal secretary, said. Malda Congress leaders are in a fix over Mrs Gandhi’s proposed visit to the district for campaigning. Some Congress leaders are also thinking of deferring the schedule of Mrs Gandhi’s visit to draw a large crowd. Congress leaders think that the time of her arrival, between 12.45 and 1 pm on Friday, is not suitable as most of the voters will perform namaz at that time and will not be able to attend her rally. Today, a group of senior Congress leaders held a meeting on the subject and tried to convey this message to Mrs Gandhi, via senior party leaders in New Delhi. The day being Friday, the weekly prayers for Muslims on Jumma may prove a “great loss” in the minority-dominated Kaliachak area, they said. The Malda SP said Mrs Gandhi will arrive around 1 p.m. on Friday and address a rally at South Malda College ground in Kaliachak.“Not only will it be difficult to garner crowds, the use of microphones at the time of namaz will also infuriate the Muslim population there,” Mr Masidur Rahaman, a senior Congress leader of the district, said. “They may revolt against us,” the Congress leaders said. To justify their point, the Malda Congress leaders also recalled what happened at Goalpokhar in the last Assembly election.Mrs Gandhi campaigned for Mrs Dipa Das Munshi, wife of Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, on a Friday during the last Assembly elections and very few people attended that rally. Mrs Das Munshi lost the election.“If Mrs Gandhi’s schedule is not changed, it will be better if she cancels her proposed trip,” the Congress leaders said after a meeting with the Malda Congress president, Mrs Rubi Noor, today. #

Biswanath Guho playes triple role

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 24: Congressman and Intuc district president, Mr Biswanath Guho, is playing a triple role in the four Assembly segments of Malda. There is no one to question him after the demise of the late Congress stalwart, ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury. Though Mr Guho claims to be a follower of Khan Choudhury, he is contesting from the Manikchak Assembly segment as an Independent candidate.Mr Ram Prabesh Mandal is contesting as the Congress candidate. Khan Choudhury had proposed Mr Mandal’s name for the Manikchak Assembly segment.The Malda Congress had to nominate him after cancelling the name of the proposed candidate, Mr Jalil Shaikh.Mr Guho, as the district president of Intuc, was also one of the contenders for this seat and had approached Khan Choudhury. It is reported that Mr Guho is also campaigning in favour of another Independent candidate, Mr Ananta Chakraborty, as the member of Indira Rajiv Mancha in English Bazaar.At the same time, Mr Guho is also planning to campaign for Mrs Rubi Noor and Mr AH Khan Choudhury, in the Sujapur and Kaliachak Assembly constituencies. Mr Guho today met the Congress district president, Mrs Rubi Noor, and assured her that he would campaign for her and Mr AH Khan Choudhury. The Intuc district president told reporters: “Rubidi has allowed me to contest in Manikchak.”Reportedly, Mr Guho has selected a cricket bat as his election symbol. During the campaign, he is highlighting the heavy erosion problem on the left bank of the river Ganga in this zone. Besides Mr Guho, the Congress candidate, Mr Ram Prabesh Mandal, is also campaigning in the name of Ghani Khan Choudhury in Manikchak, which is now confusing the voters of this Assembly segment. It was also learnt that Mr Prakash Kumar Singhi, a local with tremendous influence and Mr Biswajit Sen as the Trinamul candidate, are contesting against the present CPI-M MLA, Mrs Asima Chowdhury in Manikchak. Political observers believe that the voting tradition of this constituency followed since 1977 may not change even this time after the division of anti- Left votes in this segment. The election candidates of the CPI-M and the Congress have been elected alternatively but everything now depends on the final counting.In 2001, Mrs Asima Chowdhury secured 48,239 votes, defeating Mr Ram Prabesh Mandal by a margin of 8,384 votes.Mr Sitangshu Kundu got 6,935 votes and Mr Soharab Ali bagged 3,633 votes. #

EC blow to Malda sabhadhipati

MALDA, April 24: Malda Zilla Parishad sabhadhipati Mr Goutam Chakraborty, whose name did not find a place in the final electoral rolls, would have to leave the district at least 48 hours before the 8 May election, following an Election Commission guideline, a senior district election officer said today. The news has been a great setback for the Malda Congress, which is yet to come to terms with the demise of ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury. The Malda district magistrate, Mr Abhijit Choudhuri, however, said there was no such provision at all. “It is a bogus information,” the DM said. However, a senior election officer, on conditions of anonymity, said the EC would soon issue a notice to Mr Chakraborty, asking him to leave the district 48 hours before the polls on 8 May. “There are chances that Mr Chakraborty will try to influence the people before the election, using his status,” the official told The Statesman. Citing an example, he said Mr Ajit Panja, MP, was also prevented from entering the Lok Sabha segment during the by-poll for the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency. Following an objection raised by a group of CPI-M leaders, Mr Chakraborty had appeared before the SDO for a hearing and it was found that he had included his name a few years back in a village of English Bazaar by submitting false statements. When contacted, Mr Chakraborty, said the EC has so far not even informed him that his name had been deleted from the electoral rolls. # SNS

Observers perplex political parties

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 23: Not only the CPI-M, even leaders of other parties, including the Congress, are vexed over the present election observers’ random policy of appointing polling personnel for electoral booths.It was learnt that election observers are averse to allowing teachers to go for poll duty based on the list forwarded by political leaders.The observers have sought clarification on the teachers’ involvement in direct politics and on their receiving a salary from the government exchequer. The observers have questioned the teachers’ service conduct rule in this regard. The election observers have exempted teachers from poll duty after they submitted their applications through political leaders.Reportedly, political leaders are now perplexed over how to appoint these teachers, who are also their polling agents. The observers have decided to conduct a training programme for selected teachers as poll personnel.The district election officials, too, have informed political leaders to attend all political meetings convened by the observers here. The latter said election officials would never accept the teachers’ list from political leaders for fear of being exempted from election duty.They said that after finalisation of the poll personnel’s list, teachers would be provided to them as polling agents.Mr Masidur Rahman, vice-president of the Malda district Congress, and the chief election agent of the late MP, ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury, said: “How can we appoint polling agents? Is it possible to appoint polling agents finalised by the observers?An election official facing the ire of Congress leaders instructed them to bring the matter to the notice of Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, Union I&B and parliamentary affairs minister

700 voters not on list

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 23: Names of at least 700 genuine voters of the English Bazaar Municipal area have been deleted from the final electoral rolls, the Congress candidate for English Bazaar, Mr KN Choudhury, alleged today. Mr Debapriya Saha, the election agent of Mr KN Choudhury, also alleged that despite holding electoral photo identity cards (Epics), many voters did not find their names on the final voters’ list. “Discrepancies in the voters’ list were detected as the name and photo of a particular voter did not match,” Mr Saha told reporters. Citing an example, he added: “At least 12 voters of Ward No 10, who were present during the hearing, were not listed in the final voters’ list.” He also showed the names of at least 30 dead persons whose names figured on the list despite a complaint having been lodged earlier. Again, some names figuring on the provisional list had been deleted in the final one. Mr Saha said: “It is surprising that none of our pleadings was upheld by the Election Commission.” A door-to-door survey had not been conducted in some of the wards of English Bazaar Municipality. He alleged: “We can hardly consider it a slip on the EC’s part; rather, the names of these voters were deleted at the behest of some state government employees from the CPI-M-led Coordination Committee. We will lodge a complaint with the state electoral officer, apart from the district authorities.”

CPM turns on the heat

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 21: The Malda CPI-M today accused the Election Commission of pursuing “double standards” regarding the “execution of arrest warrant” against the Congress candidate, Mr Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury. It was learnt that the Congress candidate had mentioned an “arrest warrant” issued against him under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, along with a dozen pending cases in the court of law in the declaration attached with his nomination papers. Reportedly, the Malda CPI-M candidate, Mr Samarananda Roy, asked his election agent, Mr A Bhattacharya, to submit a letter to the returning officer of the English Bazaar Assembly constituency for clarification on the issue. It was also learnt that under the column of conviction, Mr KN Choudhury has mentioned “nil”. The Congress candidate clarified: “I have not yet been convicted by any court of law in India. An arrest warrant was issued a few months back by the Katihar court in Bihar, but it is not pending over a period of six months. I have applied for anticipatory bail and the court has fixed the date of hearing on 28 April.”Mr Choudhury added: “The CPI-M candidate is scared. He is trying to execute the case demanding my arrest so that I cannot campaign in the election. But, I am not afraid.” Reportedly, the Malda CPI-M also sent a letter to the chief election commissioner on this issue on 12 April and forwarded its copy to the chief electoral officer of West Bengal, the district magistrate and other officials concerned.After not receiving any response from the EC, the Malda CPI-M submitted a letter to the returning officer of the English Bazaar Assembly today, seeking to know the EC’s stand. In the letter, the election agent of the CPI-M candidate mentioned that the Malda DM had issued a letter (memo number: 418 /713/2006) on the matter after consulting the election observer, Mr Debendra Singh, in which the district election officer had told the official concerned to delete the Congress candidate’s name.The CPI-M leaders claim that the district magistrate reported the matter to the Malda SP, suggesting that he contact his Katihar counterpart. A few months back, Katihar Police raided the house of Mr KN Choudhury in Malda following the court’s order but was unable to find him. The case against Mr Choudhury was recorded in the Balarampur police station in Katihar under Sections 302, 201, and 34 of the IPC.The letter forwarded to the RO of English Bazaar by the CPI-M candidate reads: “When the police is arresting the common people on grounds of pending cases following the EC’s direction, why is the police reluctant to arrest the Congress candidate and how can he also attend government meetings?” The CPI-M district leader inquired if the EC had forwarded any letter of “relaxation” for the Congress candidate. #

70 candidates file papers for 11 seats

MALDA, April 21: Seventy candidates from different parties have filed their nomination for 11 constituencies in Malda. Ten CPI-M candidates and one Forward Bloc candidate have filed nominations. Following a state-level alliance, the Trinamul Congress has fielded nine candidates and the BJP has fielded two from Habibpur and Harishchandrapur constituencies.The Bahujan Samaj Party has nominated 10 candidates here, besides the Manikchak Assembly segment. There is one Muslim League candidate contesting from Sujapur. The SUCI and the CPI-ML (Liberation) has nominated three candidates each in the district. These 70 candidates also include many Independent candidates who have filed their nominations but they will contest on behalf of the KPP and Indira Rajiv Mancha, which is a faction of the Malda Congress. SNS

35 Malda booths face ultra threats

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 20: Police have identified 35 polling stations that could be attacked by Kamtapur Liberation Organisation activists and Maoists on 8 May when Malda goes to polls in the last phase of the five phase elections in the state. These polling booths are scattered over four police station areas in Malda. Authorities said at least 10 Central paramilitary forces (CPMF) personnel would be deployed at each polling booth to prevent panic among the voters. The prospective trouble spots include 25 polling stations in the Habibpur, Gazole and Bamongola police station areas which are reported to be KLO strongholds. Mr Dilip Kumar Mondal, the Malda SP, said: “The rest of the 10 polling booths are in the Harishchandrapur police station area, close to the state’s border with Bihar, where the People’s War groups are stated to be active.” He also said: “Though there are no ultras at present after continuous raids in these areas, we will not take any risk.” Eighty-three companies of CPMF will reach this district soon. The district authorities have reason to be on their toes. Mr Mondal said: “One of the Maoist leaders is in Malda jail and others have fled. Similarly, three militants, after the arrest of Malkhan Singh, have fled the area.” Intelligence sources have reported that hardcore KLO militants have taken shelter in Bangladesh and Bhutan. While the extremist groups are planning to abort the elections, the CPI-ML, in a bid to better their chances in the elections, staged a hunger-strike in protest against the malpractices of gram panchayat members and the chief in front of the Gazole block office today. It has nominated two candidates in Kaliachak and Gazole. The CPI-ML (Liberation) activists are demanding 100 days of employment under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Schemes. The leader of the CPI-ML ( Liberation), Mr Mrityunjoy Das, said that the panchayat pradhans had collected money from the beneficiaries for issuing job cards and had collected Rs 10 for photographs required for job cards. Mr Das, a district standing committee member, also said that job card holders have been denied jobs which are being implemented. The CPI-ML (Liberation) members have demanded compensation for victims who have not been provided jobs by authorities. Mrs Susmita Bhattacharjee, block development officer, Gazole, said: “The allegation is not correct. I conducted an inquiry but did not get any complaint.” It was also reported that beneficiaries had paid Rs 10 for photographs willingly. If the gram panchayat pradhan fails to provide jobs to villagers within 15 days of the date on which job cards are received, the BDO will take up the matter and recommend the case to the DM. In case the district authorities fail to provide jobs, they have to provide compensation. #

Opposition fritters away advantage

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 19: Trinamul chief Miss Mamata Banerjee’s appeal for a “grand alliance” among voters at the grassroots level to provide a united front against the Left is a remote possibility in English Bazaar.The sympathy wave in favour of the Congress after the death of the Malda MP, ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury, is the only hope to defeat the CPI-M here. The Opposition parties ~ the Congress, Trinamul Congress and the BJP are virtually divided in the English Bazaar Assembly segment on the selection of the Congress candidate here. A group of Trinamul Congress leaders is working for the Congress candidate, Mr Krishnendu Chowdhury and another group led by Mr Dulal Sarkar is trying hard to defeat him.To teach a lesson to Mr Chowdhury, former Malda Trinamul president, the state Trinamul Congress has allotted a ticket for English Bazaar to Mrs Chaitali Sarkar, wife of Mr Dulal Sarkar, at the last moment. Mr Sarkar is contesting as a candidate of the Trinamul-BJP alliance in Old Malda. The Trinamul leadership, close to Miss Banerjee, could not find any suitable candidate for the Trinamul and nobody agreed to come forward when Khan Choudhury allotted a Congress ticket to Mr Krishnendu Chowdhury and planned a one-to-one fight here.Malda BJP leaders tried hard to convince the state leadership, including the Trinamul, to allow a BJP candidate in English Bazaar but they were not allowed. The district BJP president, Mr Dinesh Basak, said: “Since 1952, we have been contesting in English Bazaar. Hari Prasanna Mishra had been contesting here for the Jana Sangha from 1971 and in 1977, Hari Prasanna Mishra got 30.4 per cent of the vote when Mr Sailen Sarkar, a CPI-M candidate, won the seat by securing 31 per cent votes. The BJP candidate has always been either in the second or third position since then and former Union minister Mr Tapan Sikdar had contested from here twice. The BJP has a base in English Bazaar,” Mr Basak said. It was learnt that veteran BJP workers and voters would cast their vote in favour of the CPI-M candidate, Mr Samar Roy, an MLA from English Bazaar, to take revenge on the Congress candidate, Mr Chowdhury, who severed ties with the BJP during the last parliamentary election and got close to Khan Choudhury to form the English Bazaar board with the Congress. “People will not forgive him because he changed his political ideology for his personal interest,” Mr Asim Chakraborty, BJP district committee member, said. In 2001, Mr Roy was elected from English Bazaar securing 50,507 votes and on the other hand, the Congress candidate, Mr Goutam Chakraborty, got 38,557 votes. Mr Krishnendu Choudhury was in third position, securing 32,833 votes and the BJP candidate got just 9,313 votes. Though the total votes of the Opposition is much higher, owing to internal squabbling, Mr Roy will have an advantage this year, political observers said. A group of Congress leaders cannot forget the 2001 election results and Mr Krishnendu Chowdhury’s move as he had contested to defeat Khan Choudhury’s candidate Mr Chakraborty on instruction’s from Miss Banerjee. Trinamul leader Mr Debapriya Saha, said: “Miss Banerjee had done a lot and fought for a ticket for Mr Chakraborty in English Bazaar and Mr Krishnendu Chowdhury had helped him financially during campaigning. But now Mr Chakraborty is reluctant to help him,” he said. #

Wave of sympathy vs CPM

Manas R Bannerjee

MALDA. April 18: While Congress leaders claim that a wave of public “sympathy” for the late “stalwart” ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury will prove beneficial to the party at nine out of 11 Assembly seats in Malda, CPI-M leaders are trying hard to swim with the tide on the strength of their tact. The 14th Assembly polls have turned Malda into a battlefield ~ the fight is between a “wave of sympathy” at the demise of “great” leader and the Left Front’s organisational strength. A group of Trinamul Congress leaders, who are working for a Congress candidate at the English Bazaar Assembly seat, fear that the wave may actually help the CPI-M candidate from the Ratua seat indirectly if Union minister Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi does not take the “challenge” seriously. “There is no doubt that he was a man who worked hard. He did a lot for Malda and Bengal, his death has left gap that can never be filled,” said a member of the CPI-M district secretariat. Mr Sailen Sarkar, the minister for food processing industries and horticulture, said: “People of Malda will not vote for Congress candidates because of desperate attempts they have made to capitalise on their sympathy.” There was an “anti-sympathy wave” in Ratua, where Mr Sarkar is contesting against Mr Asit Basu. Mr Basu has managed a ticket with the help of Union minister Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi. A few hours before the final selection of Mr Basu was made by the high command in New Delhi, ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury had proposed Mr Samar Mukherjee’s name in a fax message to Mrs Sonia Gandhi. CPI-m workers are asking: “How can voters pay their last respects to Ghani Khan Choudhury in Ratua?”Mr Sarkar was elected in 2001 by a margin of over 8,500 votes against Congress candidate Mr Samar Mukherjee, and the state minister filed his nomination yesterday to contest against Mr Asit Basu. Talking about the “task of development” at a tea party at the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce at Samsi under Ratua constituency, Mr Sarkar distributed his colourful “Europe Diary”. There were claims made in the diary that the Indian Chamber of Commerce and state government’s FPI&H department had jointly organised the sending of a high-level state delegation to Germany, Italy and the Netherlands in October 2005 which had achieved development for West Bengal. Questions are being raised as to whether sympathy can prevail at the English Bazaar Assembly seat where the “Malda stalwart” had done much to pacify his sister, district Congress president and others by selecting Mr Krishnendu Chowdhury, former Malda Trinamul president, as Congress candidate. To maintain the “Congress legacy”, Ghani Khan’s sister Mrs Rubi Noor and brother, and an influential group of Congress leaders do not want to help Mr Krishnendu Chowdhury as Congress candidate, sources said. The group fears that Mr Chowdhury may challenge the authority of Ghani Khan’s family if he becomes an MLA, political observers said. #

Neither here nor there

Statesman News Service

MALDA April 17: Malda administration has finally decided to restore people living on a sand head called Khatiakhana on the Ganges their voting rights. A fresh survey will be conducted so that the residents can cast their votes for the by-poll to be conducted due to ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury’s death, an official said today. Authorities said there were hundreds who did not have the right to vote during the ongoing Assembly polls thanks to technical snags. “This area is in our ‘active consideration’, to accept the plea to include names of these people in the electoral rolls,” Mr Debanjan Roy, block development officer, said. He said the block land and land revenue department conducted a preliminary survey to find its land records and it has been established that the char land is under the jurisdiction of Malda district. “We must have a fresh survey soon,” the BDO, Kaliachak II, said. These people were forced to take refuge on another char land, located on the right bank of the Ganges a few years back, when massive erosion on the left bank destroyed their homes. The 250 displaced families returned to Khatiakhana, in the the Hamidpur gram panchayat area in Kaliachak II block, when the land resurfaced. People continue to come over to Khatiakhana apprehending erosion on the right bank. According to the irrigation department, the width of the Ganges is usually 2.5 km, but in this zone it is nearly 8 to 8.5 km. Dozens of sand heads have come up here.Villagers living in Khatiakhana have ration cards issued by the Bengal government earlier as Malda residents and they would collect material from ration dealers on the left bank of the Ganges. They also have Epics issued by the Jharkhand government and had cast their votes in the last Parliamentary election. But in the last Assembly election in Jharkhand, the government did not allow them to vote. In the meantime, the West Bengal government had deleted their names from the voters’ list. Right now, these people have ration cards but no voting rights (in either state). A few weeks back, locals informed the Election Commission of their plight. “They will have to show documents that their names have been deleted from electoral rolls in Jharkhand. We will include their names if they can do so,” said Mr BP Barat, the additional district magistrate. #

Malda Cong's figurative committees

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April.17: The death of ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury has apparently exposed the real face of the Congress in Malda. Since then, the party has almost been divided into three groups, a leadership crisis has struck it and it is not known who will have the last word now that Khan Choudhury is no more. A group, which was close to Khan Choudhury, has raised the suggestion of “joint leadership”. The party has been facing a crisis after the death of their leader. Senior Congress leaders said now the party has three groups ~ JCC (Jumping Congress Committee), PCC (Photo Congress Committee) and the original one, MCC (Malda Congress Committee). They said the JCC comprised those who recently jumped into the Congress.The PCC has young leaders who always try to speak out to the media to have their photographs published in the next day’s newspapers. It was also reported that the followers of the Raiganj MP, Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, are also in favour of a joint leadership. But the critics of Mr Das Munshi said: “Priyada did a lot for Barkatda when he fell ill. And he had arranged every thing from Malda to Kolkata. There is no need to form any joint leadership now because we have a district committee led by Mrs Rubi Noor, Barkatda’s sister. Congress workers should be respectful to her and accept this committee because it was formed by Barkatda,” said the Congress sabhadhipati, Mr Goutam Chakraborty. But the followers of the late MP are not interested in joint leadership now. They are not even ready to consult Mr. AH Khan Choudhury, Ghani Khan Choudhury’s brother.At present, the Malda Congress wants to cash in on sympathy votes after Khan Choudhury’s death in the Assembly election but they are not ready to allow Mr KN Choudhury to fight as a Congress candidate from English Bazaar.Though it was learnt that a Congress ticket will not be allotted to Mr Choudhury, but under conditions of anonymity a senior Congress leader said: “ Rubidi will work according to her brother’s wishes.”Mrs Noor is still at home and trying to recover from the shock of the great leader. A group of Congress leaders said the Congress in Malda was trying to retain five seats and regain two other seats ~ Old Malda and Manikchak. #

Homoeopathy in a new light

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 16: Prof AR Khuda Bukhsh from the University of Kalyani has claimed that homoeopathic medicine, based on arsenic oxide, has shown promising results when tested on mice poisoned with arsenic.Addressing a scientific seminar on “homoeopathy in the light of science” in Malda, organised by Homoeopathic Doctors’ Welfare Association, Prof. Khuda Bukhsh said it reduced the liver toxicity induced by arsenic in mice but distilled water did nothing and alcohol exacerbated the affects. “Arsenicum Album might provide a safe and this is easily available remedy for thousands of people in West Bengal who are at risk in the arsenic affected areas”, he added. Speaking to this correspondent, Prof. Khuda Bukush, a scientist in Zoology, said that a drop of homoeopathy dose could save the people of Bengla who are regularly taking a daily dose of poison through ground water contaminated with arsenic. Patients suffering from arsenicosis feel better and patients find better results if they drink safe water during treatment. Prof. Khuda Bukhsh had experimented a lot on the people in arsenic affected areas in West Bengal and his papers on it has been published in different science magazine across the World. He also explained efficacy of Homoeopathy drugs, how can it protect DNA damages, chain of reaction, repairing of chromosome, how more dilution is more effective in the human body and nervous systems. Ayush , an organisation under the ministry of health and family welfare , has sanctioned funds for research work on ‘ artificially induced hepatocarcino genesis,” he said.

Ghani's death fails to mellow Cong in Malda

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 16: The death of ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury has failed to mellow the Malda Congress’s enthusiasm for the Assembly election this year. A section of the leaders belonging to the Malda Congress said that the people’s sympathy for the late veteran Congress leader would surely yield better results for the party during the Assembly election in the district. It was learnt that some Malda Congress leaders however remain divided on the issue. The vice-president of the Malda Congress, Mr Masidur Rahaman, said that he hoped the procession organised for taking Ghani Khan’s body from Farakka to Malda will prove effective. It may be recalled that the procession led by a group of Congress leaders virtually turned into an election campaign on the NH-34, where thousands of people had gathered to pay their last respects to the great leader. Mr KN Chowdhury’s decision to bring Ghani Khan Choudhury’s body to the Malda Town Hall for the people, who had gathered to pay their homage and for engaging in “dead body” politics received all-round criticism. Mr KN Choudhury was also heckled for mismanagement in the Malda Town Hall. However, based on his planning others have pursued the same rules for the Kaliachak and Sujapur Assembly politics. It may be noted that the Congress workers demanded the body of Ghani Khan Choudhury after hearing the decision of Mr KN Chowdhury and they succeeded in organising a rally in three constituencies of Kaliachak, Sujapur and the English Bazaar and also partly in the Old Malda constituency. Mrs Rubi Noo, however, wanted to bring the body to the residence directly from the helipad from the policeline field. “The possibility of winning the Sujapur and Kaliachak seats are confirmed,” said the vice-president, Mr Masidur Rahaman. On the other hand, Congress supporters at the grassroot level, said: “Malda Congress is finished after the sudden death of the leader of the leaders. There is no one to resolve the factional feud now.” They also said: “The Malda Congress was not based on an organisation. It was based on Ghani Khan. It was Ghani Khan’s Congress. When he is no more, why will the people for the party?The CPI-M workers are also divided on this issue. They do not believe that sympathy wave can change any results. “There is no need to worry as 10 days later, the entire scenario will automatically change,” said Mr Samar Roy, the CPI-M MLA and the contesting candidate from the English Bazaar against Congress candidate, Mr KN Chowdhury. It was learnt that Mr KN Chowdhury is planning to organise a huge rally in the English Bazaar town highlighting the contributions of Ghani Khan Choudhury.

Voters both in Bengal and Bihar

Statesman News Service

MALDA. April 15. — Despite strict monitoring of the electoral rolls by the Election Commission, nearly 1,100 voters of Govindapur village in a char land on the Bihar and Bengal border in Malda district will cast votes in both states. At present, political leaders of Bengal are gearing up to campaign for the election of Ratua Assembly constituency and on the other hand, local leaders are in touch with them for the gram panchayat election to be held on 14 May. There is no hide-and-seek involved in casting their votes but government officials did not have information that 1,100 odd voters have Electoral Photo Identity Card (Epic) issued by the Bihar government. In char lands created by the Ganges and Fulohar in bordering areas of Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal, many had Epics issued by three states. “A few Epics issued by Jharkhand and Bihar have been collected from people who live in Bengal as voters during roll revision. This has been reported to the Election Commission following a complaint,” said the additional district magistrate, Mr BP Barat. Since Independence, Govindapur has been the bone of contention between West Bengal and Bihar after the river Fulohar changed course. Although land records are maintained in Bihar, belonging to Ahmedabad gram panchayat, Ratua police station of West Bengal maintain the law and order. As a result, villagers have cast their votes for both states, said villagers Mr Nazimul Hossain, Mr Abu Hassan and Mr Manirul Zaman. According to them, they have been casting votes in two state for a long time and they were fortunate to have two MLAs, Mr Sailen Sarkar at the Ratua Assembly seat and Mr Mobaraque Hossain in Monihari Assembly seat in Bihar. Similarly they have MPs such as Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, elected from the Raiganj Lok Sabha seat and Mr Nikhil Chowdhury from Katihar. The BDO of Ratua I said he would look into the matter.

Malda's point man no more

Manas R Banerjee

MALDA, April 14: “You are not the minister of Malda, mind it, you are the minister for India,” the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had told Ghani Khan Choudhury at a public rally at Katihar in Bihar.Mr Khan Choudhury’s reply, said Masidur Rahman, was: “No madam, I am the minister of Malda. I always think of Malda first and then think about India.”Mr. Rahman was the only election agent of Mr Khan Choudhury since 1969 and looked after his election work till the last parliamentary election. Mr Rahman said: “He was a large-hearted man, and was also broadminded. After Bidhan Chandra Roy, he was the only popular leader in West Bengal. His death marks the end of an era. It is a gap that can neveer be filled. I couldn’t go to see him in Kolkata due to election preparations and nomination of all Congress candidates. I am in deep shock.” Mr Rahman told reporters. Mr Sailen Sarkar, minister food processing industries and horticulture, who contested thrice against him in the Lok Sabha election, said: “I am shocked after hearing the news. “He had extended full cooperation for developmental work in Malda,” Mr Sarkar said.The CPI-M leader, Mr Pranab Das, who had contested the last Lok Sabha election against Mr Khan Choudhury also expressed his grief at his death. “His death is a great loss not only for Malda but also for Bengal,” said Mr KN Choudhury, who joined the Congress and got a ticket for English Bazaar.

Pic: Pralependu Sanyal

Noor puts lid on quarrel over body
Statesman News Service

MALDA, April14: Minutes after the veteran Congress leader, ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury’s death, local leaders were visibly divided over the place where his body would be kept for people to offer their last respects.Mrs Rubi Noor, his sister, informed the workers from Kolkata to make an arrangement at his Kotowali house, but the local leaders were planning to keep his body in the Malda Town Hall. Mrs Noor turned down the workers’ proposal and told them that she would chalk out the programme. It was also said that his body would be flown to Malda tomorrow morning. The helicopter will land at the Police Lines field. Leaders including the Congress candidate, Mr KN Choudhury, are planning to take out a rally in English Bazaar town.Sources said, at a meeting of Congress leaders at the party office, Mr Choudhury had argued that this place will be appropriate for thousands of people to pay their homage.People will not face any problem to go to Kotwali after coming in Malda town by bus or train, he said. But Mrs Noor ended the argument and asked her close associates and leaders to cancel the plan of keeping his body in the Town Hall.A leaders’ group has instructed all mosques and madrasas to organise a namaz called janza. Mr Masidur Rahman, vice president of the Malda Congress, informed the heads of mosques to organise janza from today.The Malda CPI-M today announced that party workers would not organise any open-air programme for the election campaign in the district today and tomorrow.

Security at English Bazaar stepped up
Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 14: At least 500 policemen will be deployed across English Bazaar town to manage the huge rush of people who would throng the town to have a glimpse of Ghani Khan Choudhury’s body, the Malda SP, Mr K Mondal, said today.He said besides various spots of the town, police would be deployed in the Malda policelines right up to the Malda Town Hall and on the way to Mr Khan Choudhury’s residence and burial ground at his village. “His body will be kept at Malda Town Hall as a huge rush of people are expected,” Mr Mondal said. Mrs Rubi Noor was initially not ready to keep his body at the Town Hall for the people but the programme was changed. Local leaders were divided and were involved in a quarrel at the party office after his death.His body may go to a school, Sahela Memorial, built after the name of his mother and set up by Mr Khan Chowdhury. “Barkatda used to follow his mother’s instruction rather than his father to take important decisions in his life,” a senior Congress leader said.Congress leaders and workers of Kaliachak, from where Mr Khan Choudhury had contested in the Assembly election for the first time, demanded that his body be brought to Kaliachak. But no decision has been taken yet, according to police.

The master parliamentarian
Obituary/ ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury (1927-2006)Veteran Congress leader and MP, Abu Barkat Ataul Ghani Khan Choudhury, who was admitted to a city nursing home on 3 April after multiple organ failure, died around 11.31 a.m today. He was 79 and is survived by two siblings, Mr Abu Hashem Khan Choudhury and Ms Ruby Noor, both legislators. He fell ill in Malda on 2 April and was airlifted to Kolkata the next day. From the nursing home, his body was brought to Bidhan Bhavan, Pradesh Congress office, where his body kept till 8.30 p.m. From Bidhan Bhavan, his body would be kept at Peace Haven in the night. The leader’s body will be flown to his residence at Kotwali in Malda district at 7 am tomorrow and his last rites will be conducted there in the evening. Born into an aristocrat family in Malda on 1 November, 1927, ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury, earned the rare distinction of being elected to the West Bengal Assembly six times, besides making it to the Lok Sabha eight times between 1980 and 2004. Known as Barkatda, Khan Choudhury first became power minister in the SS Ray government in 1972, during which he ensured jobs for thousands of youths in Malda. In 1980, he was elected to the Lok Sabha and was selected by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to look after the energy department with additional charge of irrigation. Between 1982 and 1984, Khan Choudhury was railway minister and earned popularity for zonal projects which provided jobs to youths of the state in general and Malda in particular. He also handled the coal ministry with his controversial style of functioning. It was largely due to his personal initiative that both the Metro Railway and the Circular Railway became operational in Kolkata. As power minister both in the state and at the Centre, he was instrumental in getting clearance of projects for building the Kolaghat and Farakka super-thermal power stations for which he was criticised. He became a member of the Congress Working Committee and Congress Parliamentary Party during 1981-85.

Congress' sympathy factor

Rubi Noor in rescue act
Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 13: Though Mrs Rubi Noor, the Malda district president of Congress and sister of Mr ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury, arrived in Malda for a few hours today, she left for Kolkata again owing to her brother’s critical condition. Mrs Noor held a meeting with party workers to instruct them how to carry out election work in her absence and also to deal with the health crisis of their leader, Mr Khan Chowdhury. Another Congress leader and the brother of Mr Khan Chowdhury is, however, still in the city with other political leaders. Mr KN Choudhury, the Congress candidate for English Bazaar, said the Congress stalwart’s health is the main topic of conversation these days.Mr Goutam Chakraborty, the Congress sabhadhipati of Malda zilla parishad, reported that though Mr Khan Chowdhury’s health is still critical, compared to the previous day, it was better.”A group of Congress workers said Mrs Noor’s presence in Malda was needed for moral support to the Congress workers. “The Congress workers are campaigning for Mrs Noor and Mr AH Khan Chowdhury in their constituencies of Sujapur and Kaliachak, respectively, in the name of Barkatda,” a Congress leader said. “The name Barkatda is enough for them at this juncture. The voters’ sympathy is with the party,” the Congress leader said.

MALDA , April 13: It’s election time and even your leader’s ailment can fetch you votes. At least, that is what the Congress candidates here think. They have embarked on a mission to galvanise sympathy votes, based on ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury’s ailment. A Congress candidate, Mrs Sabitri Mitra, today expressed her views about the Malda MP and told her followers emotionally that she was not in a mood to file nomination papers today. “The man who brought me to politics is ill today and under the circumstances how can I concentrate,” she mused. However, she went on and filed her nomination papers. This is for the first time that Mrs Mitra has filed her nomination without meeting Mr Chowdhury. It’s a tradition in Malda that every Congress candidate first seeks the blessings of Mr Khan Chowdhury before filing their nomination papers.Another Congress leader, Mr Biswanath Guho, today filed his nomination as an Independent candidate, following Mr Chowdhury’s style.Mr Guho went to a well-known temple and a Muslim mosque, where Mr Chowdhury used to go before filing his nomination. SNS

Cong leader now Independent

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 12: Mr Biswanath Guho, a Congress leader and the Intuc district president, today announced that he would contest as an Independent candidate from Manikchak and file his nomination papers tomorrow. When the Malda Congress was facing problems in selecting its candidate for the Manikchak seat with two names proposed~ Mr Jalial Sheikh and the former MLA from Manikchak Mr Ram Prabesh Mondal ~ Mr Guho had demanded a ticket for this seat. But finally the central leadership had decided to nominate Mr Ram Prabesh Mandal. After finalisation of Mr Mandal’s name, the followers of Mr Jalil Shiekh expressed their unhappiness and predicted a negative result in this seat.It was also learnt that another Congress group, unhappy with the decision of the central leadership regarding the Ratua candidate, decided to nominate an Independent candidate from Ratua.Mr Samar Mukherjee had demanded a ticket for the Ratua Assembly segment as a former Congress MLA and the Union defence minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, had also supported his name but lastly, Mr Asit Bose won the race after the suggestion of Union minister Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi.The Indira Rajib Manch will file more candidates in five Assembly segments, including English Bazaar. Ignoring the decision of the Malda Congress, Mr Guho had contested the Assembly election several times and even filed a nomination in the Lok Sabha election when Mr ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury was the Congress candidate.

Sonia's Malda visit uncertain

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 12: Mr ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury’s poor health seems to have affected the Malda Congress as it is vacillating over the announcement of the arrival date of the Congress chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, to Malda for poll campaign even after the announcement of her arrival to West Bengal. The Malda CPI-M, however, has declared the visit of its Politburo member, Mrs Brinda Karat, and other CPI-M leaders to the district from 26 April for election campaigning. It is learnt that senior Congress leaders are anxious about Mr Khan Chowdhury’s health after they received information from the Kolkata nursing home where the Congress stalwart is admitted. Mr Chowdhury suddenly fell ill on 3 April and was airlifted to Kolkata. He is presently reported to be in a critical condition. Reportedly, the Malda CPI-M has selected 10 zones in 11 Assembly constituencies to gear up for poll campaigning. It was learnt that Mrs Karat will attend four public meetings in the eastern and northern parts of the district, including English Bazaar town. Another CPI-M leader and MP, Mr Basu Deb Acharia, will also arrive here after Mrs Karat’s visit. On 5 and 6 May, chief minister Budhhadeb Bhattacharjee will address several meetings in Malda. The chief minister will specially address meetings to be held in Ratua and English Bazaar as per his promise after he was unable to inaugurate a drinking water project here due to bad weather. He will also address a meeting in the Kaliachak area. Mrs Gandhi had come to English Bazaar town for poll campaigning during the last Assembly election. She had also come to Kaliachak earlier.During the last Lok Sabha election, she visited Samsi in north Malda for Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and thereafter went to Jangipur for Mr Pranab Mukherjee.The Malda Congress sabhadhipati, Mr Goutam Chakraborty, said he was aware of the problem and informed that a team of Congress leaders from Kolkata would soon arrive in Malda to oversee election preparations.Reportedly, Mr Khan Chowdhury’s siblings contesting from Sujapur and Kaliachak constituencies are still busy with their brother’s illness and are dependent on others for executing election work.

TMC names English Bazaar candidate

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 12: Finally, the Trinamul Congress has projected Mrs Chaitali Sarkar as its candidate for the controversial English Bazaar seat, a decision that has “unofficially” been opposed by the party’s ally, BJP. The Trinamul had been in trouble ever since its former choice for the seat, Mr KN Choudhury, severed relations with the party and joined the Congress. Malda BJP leaders, however, are unhappy with the choice of Mrs Sarkar for the English Bazaar seat. Though the BJP leaders are “officially” tightlipped on the development, they indirectly disclosed that their party would have nominated a better candidate than Mrs Sarkar in English Bazaar. Party sources said the Malda Trinamul Congress was not in a position to nominate the fittest candidate for English Bazaar after the KN Choudhury episode. It was learnt that no other Trinamul leader was interested to contest from English Bazaar.At the last moment, following pressure from the Malda BJP, the Trinamul leader, Mr Dulal Sarkar, proposed the name of his wife and got the approval from the party’s state committee.Mr Sarkar had conveyed to the party that he would contest in English Bazaar leaving the Old Malda Assembly segment, but at the last moment the decision was changed.Now he is contesting in Old Malda and his wife will be contesting from English Bazaar. But most of the Trinamul councillors of English Bazaar and other leaders have decided to support the Congress candidate, Mr Choudhury.After the final announcement, the Trinamul leaders said Miss Mamata Banerjee would be coming to Malda and address a public meeting in English Bazaar town.But the Trinamul workers are not satisfied with Mrs Sarkar selection. They said the move would make a division in the anti-Left vote bank in English Bazaar and help the CPI-M candidate. Citing examples of the last Assembly election’s result in English Bazaar, a group of Congress and Trinamul Congress leaders said the CPI-M candidate had won here, defeating the BJP and Trinamul candidates by a huge margin. Of the total number of votes, the CPI-M candidate, Mr Samar Roy, had secured 59,910 the Congress candidate 38,557 votes, the Trinamul candidate got 32,833 votes and the BJP candidate got 9,313 votes.The total number of anti-Left votes were higher than the votes secured by the CPI-M candidate, political observers said.

A mission for jail birds

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 11: The Malda Ramkrishna Mission has introduced “value-added education” in 11 more jails of the state. This brings the number of jails and sub-jails to 21, where the mission is executing various programmes formulated on the lines of correctional homes for the benefit of the inmates. As per the secretary of the Malda Ramkrishna Mission, Swami Divyananda Maharaj, the organisation has set up libraries at various correctional homes such as Malda, Raiganj, Behrampore, Mathabanga, Krishnanagar, Howrah, Hooghly, Diamond Harbour, Midnapore East and West, Suri, Alipur, Siliguri, Durgapur, Bolpur and Burdwan jails. Recently, the Mission donated books valued at Rs 2.5 lakh to the jails. The Ramkrishna Mission also monitors self-employment training provided to inmates in Malda, Balurghat, Krishnanagar and Alipur jails. The Mission conducts regular classes on motivation, prayer, meditation, recitation, drawings and so on, for the positive development of the prisoners. Even mass literacy programmes are organised in jails regularly. Prisoners receive sermons on the life and teachings of great prophets and also appear for periodic examinations in the jail. Reportedly, nearly 2,000 inmates participated in it and were awarded prizes in Malda, North 24-Parganas and Burdwan. Divyananda Maharaj said the Mission would soon provide formal education at Shaymdaspur village in English Bazaar after it receives a particular plot as donation by one Mr Kalipada Singha, the land owner. Divyananda Maharaj said they would get official rights over the land from the district magistrate soon, after which a school will be set up for tribal children. Reportedly, there are about 100 families belonging to the Souria and Malpaharia tribals at Shyamdaspur village in the English Bazaar block. Although most of them are illiterate, they have their names enrolled in the voters’ list. Also, they do not possess ration cards for purchasing food at reasonable prices from the government. Swami Divyananda said: “I told the officials and block sabhapati to look into the matter.”

Islanders missing from voters' list

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 10: Despite having Epic and ration cards, the names of more than 500 voters of an island called Khatiakhana in the mid-Ganges between West Bengal and Jharkhand, are missing from the electoral rolls. The Ganga Bhangan Pritorodh Action Nagarik Commiitte, a local organisation, has brought the matter to the notice of the Election Commission after their reminders to the Malda district election officials were in vain.Inhabitants of this island argued that they were the residents of Kaliachak II block in Malda and had lost everything due to erosion five years back, but the land where they live at present surfaced in 2004 and all land records are lying in the Kaliachak registry office under the control of the Malda district administration. Nearly 250-odd families live on the Khatiakhana island.“We receive ration from Hamidpur village in the Kaliachak area and approached the block development officer to enrol our names in the electoral rolls but failed to pacify him. Are we not the citizens of India,” villagers asked Mrs Purnima Mandal.It was alleged that recently, their names have been deleted from Sreepore village (booth number 28) which is under Hamidpur gram panchayat. District election officials claimed that the Jharkhand government had issued Epic cards for them earlier.

Malda gears up to receive Central forces

MALDA, April 10: To conduct free and fair polls, more than 80 companies of Central paramilitary forces, presently engaged in Assam, will be deployed in Maoist-dominated Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore districts, officials said today. On 12 March, the Central paramilitary forces will reach here from Assam and the next day, they will leave for South Bengal. Malda district election officials have been instructed to make proper arrangement for their night stay.The Malda SDO said they have made arrangements for their stay.On 4 and 5 May, the CPMF will return here from Murshidabad as North Bengal goes to polls on 8 May. Today, Malda district election officials introduced 11 returning officers, who will be on duty in Malda, to the media. The officials said that on 19 and 20 April, 13 observers, including expendiutre observers, will reach Malda. SNS

Minister accuses EC if increasing poll expenses

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 10: The state’s relief minister, Mr Hafiz Alam Sairani, today fired salvos at the Election Commission, imitating the state’s sports minister, Mr Subhas Chakraborty. Mr Sairani alleged that the EC has increased the government’s election expenditure unnecessarily by formulating new guidelines, which is acting as an impediment for the country’s development. “Poor people would not be benefited by this new system,” he said. Mr Sairani argued that the expenditure incurred for conducting elections this time is 300 per cent more compared to that incurred in the last election. The increase in election expenditure is the result of deploying Central forces at the poll booths, more observers and imposition of new systems. He further accused that the EC was “confused” about the system to be adopted for conducting a free and fair election.The minister said that though the EC had announced the “no-Epic-no-vote” system, it formulated a method at last to facilitate people without Epic cards, the minister said. “In North Dinajpur, the administration has spent a lot on advertising development projects such as education for all, health awareness programmes and other welfare programmes. “But for elections, district election officials spent a large chunk of the money to erase these advertisements from walls and remove hoardings. “But the indecorous advertisements of multinational companies remain undisturbed as before,” he said. Noticeably, once the election ends, the government will have to re-spend on advertisement for government-sponsored programmes, Mr Sairani said.“If the EC does not have faith in the present government, they can do everything against the state government in future which will be more dangerous for democracy,” he said. “The appointment of authorities of the EC is a conspiracy in the garb of the present system of election here. I spent nearly Rs two lakh on election expenses in the last Assembly election, but it would be difficult for me to manage the electoral work with the same budget this time due to the adoption of a new style of campaigning as a result of restrictions imposed by the Election Commission,” he said.

Trinamul dilly-dally

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 9: The Trinamul Congress has not yet been able to announce the name of its candidate for English Bazaar constituency after Mr KN Chowdhury, the Trinamul’s former choice for the seat, severed relations with the party and joined the Congress recently. Mr KN Chowdhury is now contesting from the seat on a Congress ticket. The man in charge of Trinamul’s Malda district election committee, Mr Dulal Sarkar, said: “Mamatadi will finalise the name of our English Bazaar candidate tomorrow. Ms Sumala Agarwal and my wife, Mrs Chaitali Sarkar, are the two contenders for this seat.“Mamatadi had earlier announced the name of Mr Chowdhury as the Trinamul candidate for English Bazaar but he betrayed the party and joined the Congress.So it has become difficult for us to select a new name for the seat. We, however, have proposed two names for this seat,” Mr Sarkar added.The Trinamul councillors of English Bazaar Municipality have decided to support the Congress candidate, Mr KN Chowdhury. These councillors have even started circulating leaflets in the town in favour of Mr Chowdhury.Mr Sarkar said: “Trinamul councillors did not print these leaflets. It was Mr Chowdhury who printed the leaflets in the name of the Trinamul councillors.” Surprisingly, Ms Agarwal, whose name has reportedly been proposed by the district Trinamul leadership for the English Bazaar seat, is not interested to fight the polls on a Trinamul ticket. She said: “I will never contest from English Bazaar as a Trinamul candidate. Nobody has had any discussions with me regarding this and whether my name has been proposed or not by the party leadership is beyond my knowledge.” Yesterday, a group of Trinamul leaders and Malda district BJP leaders held a meeting on the issue of candidate selection. The BJP, a Trinamul ally, has also been trying hard to nominate its own candidate for the much-talked-about English Bazaar seat.They have reportedly sent a proposal to their state committee. If the Trinamul fails to announce the name of its candidate in a day or two, the BJP will grab the opportunity and field their own candidate from the English Bazaar seat, sources said.

Bangla exports suspended

MALDA, April 8: Export to Bangladesh through land customs stations in West Bengal was suspended from Friday, following an order by the Bangladesh government, customs officials said today. Hundreds of lorries are lined up at Mahadipur land customs stations in Malda due to this order. The Malda exporters’ association said: “The order said that Bangladesh officials would not receive export goods on Friday and Saturday.” Mr Ujjal Saha, an exporter, said: “It is difficult for us to save perishable items loaded in lorries that reached here Thursday evening.” The exporters’ coordination committee today asked the federation of Indian exporters’ organisations to look into the matter. SNS

Plea against minors' names on voters' list

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 7: Malda CPI-M leaders today lodged a new complaint with the district election officer against inclusion of the names of minor voters in the electoral rolls.The CPI-M workers identified nine minor boys and girls who have included their names in the voters’ list by submitting fake school leaving certificates.According to the complaint, the names of these minor voters were included at a village in the Krishnapur gram panchayat area, allegedly under the supervision of the Congress leaders.The CPI-M alleged that the members of Krishnapur gram panchayat had played an active role to include the names of minors in the electoral rolls in connivance with the government officials. The area is under the Kaliachak Assembly segment.Yesterday, the Malda district administration had admitted that eight such cases were detected at Bhagabanpur village under the same Assembly segment.“We will ask the block development officer to probe the matter,”Mr BP Barat, the additional district magistrate of Malda, said.The CPI-M candidate, Mr Biswanath Ghosh, is trying hard to regain the Kaliachak seat from the Congress MLA, Mr AH Khan Choudhury, brother of Mr ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury.Mr AH Khan Choudhury had been elected twice from the Kaliachak Assembly constituency.On both occasions, he defeated Mr Biswanath Ghosh by a narrow margin.

Marandi blames Cong, Communists for Maoist attacks

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 7: Former chief minister of Jharkhand and BJP vice- president, Mr Babulal Marandi, yesterday alleged that the Congress and the Communist leaders have been encouraging the Maoists in Jharkhand.Addressing a Press conference at the Malda BJP party office yesterday, Mr Marandi, who came here to campaign for BJP candidates contesting from the region, said: “Till date, police have destroyed 30 bunkers of the Maoists in the jungles and killed nearly 100 Maoist activists in more than 150 encounters.”Mr Marandi admitted that overall development of Jharkhand is the need of the hour, but at the same time, he said: “Encounter with the help of bullets” is the only way to curb the Maoist menace in Jharkhand and elsewhere in the country.Mr Marandi, who visited the Habibpur Assembly constituency in Malda yesterday, expressed his satisfaction over the functioning of the Election Commission in West Bengal.He said the BJP has urged the EC to ensure a free and fair election in the state. “People are scared of Communist cadres here. The EC should step in to allay fears from the minds of the people,” he said. Mr Marandi said the people of char lands of the Ganges, where demarcation between the two states is being discussed, are living without basic amenities. He said Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, did not approach the Jharkhand government about the problem.A large number of crop and homestead lands had been eroded on the left bank of the Ganges over the last three decades and the people of Jharkhand have started grabbing their lands.

Mahayajna for Ghani's recovery

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 6: Members of Malda Chhatra Parishad organised a mahayagna at the Manaskamana temple in English Bazaar today to pray for the speedy recovery of their ailing leader, Mr ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury, who is reported to be in a critical condition at a private nursing home in Kolkata. Hordes of Congress workers, irrespective of caste and creed, assembled at the temple for the prayer service on receiving the news about the Congress stalwart’s health. The Congress candidates contesting in the Assembly election also attended the programme. At the same time, the Congress workers also organised a Namaz at Mirchak today for Mr ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury, who is presently admitted at the Woodlands Nursing Home in Kolkata. It was learnt that across the entire district, Congress workers and supporters convened mass prayer service for their leader’s well-being. Mr ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury’s unstable health was the main topic of conversation in every government office in the town today. Reportedly, residents here still nurture hope that Mr Ghani Khan’s health will improve and have been repeatedly trying to get in touch with Congress leaders in Kolkata, being dissatisfied with the hourly updates received in news bulletins. Mr Ghani Khan Choudhury, suddenly fell ill and was airlifted to Kolkata on 3 April. He is said to be suffering from gall bladder, kidney stones and other complications. “Barkat-da’s health is better today as his acute abdominal pain is now gradually reducing. He is receiving dialysis. His problem of the urinal system is also gradually turning to normal,” said Mr Hasan Ali Khan, who was present at the mahayagna. On the other hand, Mr KN Choudhury, Congress candidate for English Bazaar, said that the condition of Mr Ghani Khan Choudhury is unstable now to all those who were inquiring about the leader’s health. Mr Goutam Chakraborty, sabhadhipati of MZP, told reporters over the phone this afternoon that although the situation is still critical, but right now Mr Ghani Khan is feeling better.

Pic : Anindita Roy

Ailing Ghani airlifted

Statesman News Service

Kolkata/Malda, April 3. – Former railway minister and veteran Congress MP from Malda Mr ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury was admitted to Malda nursing home early this morning after he complained of acute abdominal pain.The veteran Congress leader was later shifted to a nursing home in Kolkata, where he is to undergo an operation to remove gall bladder stones. His condition was stated to be “stable”. Two IAF helicopters carrying the octogenarian leader and his family members besides a team of doctors left for Kolkata this afternoon. Mr Khan Chowdhury could have left for Kolkata much earlier had sudden rain not delayed the departure of the helicopter. The Congress stalwart was accompanied by his sister, Mrs Ruby Noor and his brother, Mr AH Khan Chowdhury, both MLAs. Mr Khan Chowdhury was rushed to a private nursing home in Malda early this morning. Earlier, a team of five doctors attended Mr Ghani Khan Chowdhury. They said the leader was suffering from gall bladder stones. Finally, Mr Ghani Khan Chowdhury was referred to the nursing home in Kolkata. The director of Malda Nursing Home, Dr Tapan Roy, said the pain was so intense that they had no other option but to shift Mr Chowdhury to Kolkata. After the news of Mr Ghani Khan Chowdhury’s ailment spread in Malda town, hundreds of his supporters and well wishers gathered in front of his nursing home. Telephone calls kept coming from various parts of the country, with political leaders inquiring about the condition of the octogenarian leader. Doctors said they detected several stones in the gall bladder of Mr Chowdhury and that the leader had been suffering from gastritis for the last few days. “The exact cause of his ailment is still unknown”, Dr Tapan Roy said. The race to have a glimpse of the ailing leader was so uncontrollable that police had to resort to a mild lathi-charge. In Kolkata, senior Congress leaders including state Congress’ Working president Mr Pradip Bhattacharjee, former PCC chief Mr Somen Mitra as well as the Trinamul Congress supremo Miss Mamata Banerjee and her party’s Rajya Sabha MP Mr Mukul Roy visited the nursing home. With the ailing Congress heavyweight not around during the poll campaign, the feud-ridden party, which controls the Malda Zilla Parishad, is likely to face problems in retaining its traditional stronghold in the district, state Congress leaders admitted. Factional bickering over the nomination of candidates between the Congress MP Mr Adhir Choudhury and Congress legislative party leader Mr Atish Sinha in neighbouring Murshidabad, also considered another Congress bastion, has already hit the street.

Requisition meeting held at English Bazaar

MALDA, April 3. — Fourteen Opposition councillors of the English Bazaar Municipality held a requisition meeting today, after a HC order under the observation of the Malda district administration. Reportedly, no ruling councillors, including the chairman and the vice-chairman, were present at the meeting that was presided by the Opposition leader, Mr Rama Banerjee. The district magistrate sent the English Bazaar BDO, the SDO and the executive officer of the EBM, to conduct the requisition meeting as observers. At the requisition meeting, all the 14 Opposition councilors made a resolution after casting votes in a secret ballot. The ballots were then sealed by the government officials and put into a box to be sent to the High Court as per its order. The Opposition councilors called the requisition meeting as a measure to remove the CPI-M-backed Independent chairman, but the chairman managed a get a stay order from the court. Recently, the court had issued an order to call the requisition meeting and instructed the administration to forward the resolution to the court by 24 April. It was instructed that the court would finally open the sealed box and give the verdict. Reportedly, a group of CPI-M leaders are skeptic and plan to look into the matter when the EBM authorities will conduct a fresh election for chairman. BJP councillors informed that all Opposition councilors have cast votes against the chairman in the meeting today. — SNS

Trinamul , BJP yet to name candidate for English Bazaar

MALDA, April 2.- — Though the BJP in Malda is trying hard to nominate its candidate in English Bazaar, the Trinamul Congress is still in search of a suitable candidate for this seat after refusal of the name of its proposed candidate. Though the district BJP leadership is saying that dialogue is on in the state level, the present leadership of Trinamul Congress has failed to finalise the name of its candidate in English Bazaar. The former district president of Trinamul Congress, Mr KN Chowdhury, has joined the Congress and managed a Congress ticket for English Bazaar Assembly segment. After this development, the Trinamul camp has been divided but the opponent group of the party still could not finalise the name of candidate. Three names, including that of a former Congress MLA, are doing the rounds. A large group of Trinamul has decided to support its former leader, Mr KN Chowdhury, and decided to campaign for Mr Chowdhury, but on the other hand the opponent group, under the leadership of Mr Dulal Sarkar, is trying to defeat the Congess candidate in English Bazaar. A senior BJP leader said: “For nothing, the Trinamul is trying to nominate its candidate ignoring the BJP here where the BJP has a commendable number of votes in English Bazaar since 60s.” “We have to concentrate in Habibpur segment where the state BJP has nominated its candidate but we don’t know what will be the fate of the Harishchandrapur assembly segment,” said Mr Asim Chakraborty, another district leader of the BJP.BJP leaders also said that this year they were not in position to violate the official alliance between the two parties in the state level. — SNS

Medicines distributed to patients without test reports

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 2. — Medicines procured for the government hospitals in Malda have been distributed to the patients without sample-testing reports from the government laboratory ignoring the government guideline, officials alleged after the objection raised by the treasury department. Authorities said that the district health officials had procured medicines from the government’s prescribed establishments on June 2005 but its samples were sent to laboratory for testing in March only when the treasury raised objection. Though the bill of those procured medicines, valued at Rs 1.38 crore, has been passed by the district authorities it was decided to hold back the payment until the test reports from laboratory reached here. On 31 March, the day of the last financial year, top officials including the district magistrate passed the bill just to utilise the money but they did not take any risk by giving order of its payment. The treasury officer-II raised the objection to the bills submitted by the chief medical officer of health, based on the government order where it has been specifically mentioned that payment would be made after receiving the sample test report of the procured medicines. After detection of such gross violation, the district officials have raised a question that how did the health authorities distribute the medicines to government health centres for the patients without its test reports.? “The district health authorities did not send the samples of medicines to the laboratory for testing but were forced to do so after objections by the Malda treasury,” said a senior accounts officer. But the embarrassed Malda CMOH, Dr Gopal Sarkar, has refused to comment on it.