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