Campaign against Das Munshi

Statesman News Service

MALDA, April 11: A day before the Kharba Assembly bypolls, hundreds of posters were circulated in Chanchal block I and II allegedly by a Congress leader criticising the WBPCC chief and the Union minister Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, the Information and Broadcasting minister , who took special initiative to nominate Mr Asif Mehebub as the Congress candidate. Hundreds of leaflets were also circulated among the voters in the name of Mr Mohammad Sahid, a local Congress leader and office bearer for food department of Malda zilla parishad. Mr Sahid, in the leaflets apparently claimed that Mr Das Munshi had ensured him the ticket to contest in the by-poll but denied him eventually. The posters and leaflets called for Congress supporters to chase out the minister.The Malda Congress leaders were embarrassed after the incident and called for an emergency meeting this afternoon to inquire into the matter before taking action against the Congress leader Mr.Sahid. “We would seek clarification from Mr Sahid about the posters and leaflets,” Congress leaders, said. It was learnt that the local Congress leadership has decided to suspend Mr Sahid. “We are waiting for an approval from Das Munshi,” said Mr Mustaque Alam, general secretary, Malda district congress. The Congress leadership also suspects that the development could be the CPI-M's handiwork. “Certain words in the leaflet are usually used in communist literature,” they said. The CPI-M leaders brushed aside such allegations. It may be noted that since announcement of the Congress candidate Mr. Asif Mehebub, son of former Congress MLA Mr Mahabubul Hoque, Mr Sahid expressed unhappiness over the nomination of the candidate. A faction of the Congress in Chanchal area had tried to heckle Mr Das Munshi on the issue.