Cong to finalise candidate today

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 14 OCT: While the Congress in Malda has decided to keep handy an alternative candidate for the Sujapur bypolls due to the uncertainty hovering over Mr AN Khan Choudhury’s candidature, the Left Front candidate for the by-poll Mr Easaruddin Mandal of the CPI-M is projecting himself as a follower of the Malda Congress patriarch the late ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury believing it would work as an effective political tool against the Congress in the by-poll.

The Congress district working president Mrs Sabitri Mitra today said that the South Malda MP, who is also the party district president, has selected a second candidate for the Sujapur bypolls in case Mr AN Khan Choudhury fails to contest in the end over the citizenship and voter controversy.

Mrs Mitra said she would convene a meeting tomorrow to finalise the name of the alternative candidate for Sujapur.

She, however, sounded confident that Mr AN Khan Choudhury would be able to contest the by-poll after getting clearance from the electoral registration officer.

“We hope that Mr A N Khan Choudhury would be able to include his name in the voters’ list by 19 October. He can then file nomination either on 20 or 21 October, the last two dates for filing nomination,” said Mrs Mitra.

Meanwhile, the CPI-M candidate for the by-poll Mr Easaruddin Mandal today disclosed he was with A B A Ghani Khan Choudhury before joining the CPI-M.

“After Ghani Khan's death I joined the CPI-M's youth wing since I realised the rest of the Congress leaders were not interested in the people's welfare. I was a Congress worker and worked for Ghani Khan in the elections,” he claimed.

According to Mr Mandal, he would follow the Ghani Khan model to serve the people if he wins the by-poll. (END)