Trinamul hand sought for victory

Statesman News Service

MALDA, March 29: Miss Mausam Benazir Noor, Congress nominated candidate for the North Malda parliamentary constituency, today held a meeting with the district Trinamul Congress leaders seeking their support and launched her election campaign in Chanchal subdivision areas today, ignoring her maternal uncles’ instructions.

The district Congress president, Mr AH Khan Choudhury, Malda MP had asked Congress leaders to campaign with the symbol until the candidature uncertainty was finally cleared off. Yet, ignoring such instruction, his niece Miss Noor has gone forward canvassing support individually with a section of Congress workers since Friday.

Dr AN Khan Choudhury, maternal uncle of Miss Noor and elder brother of Mr AH Khan Choudhury has been trying desperately to meet Mrs Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi, seeking reconsideration of the candidature issue in his favour.

Apparently upset over the delay in the matter even after the final official announcement by the party high command, Miss Noor said that she would ask Mrs Sonia Gandhi to sort out the problem here.

“We have got confirmation of party symbol for Miss Noor. There is no question of reconsidering the candidature now,” the Malda district Congress, vice-president and the election agent of Miss Noor, Mr Masidur Rahman, said.

According to the district Trinamul Congress president, Mr Dulal Sarkar, the Congress and Trinamul block and panchayat level leaders would hold a meeting jointly in Gazol on 1 April to formulate campaign strategies for Miss Noor on a collective basis. Leaders from seven assembly segments under North Malda would be present in Gazol, according to the TMC sources. Meanwhile, Mr Goutam Charkraborty, former Malda ZP's Congress sabhadhipati, who recently joined the Trinamul Congress, said that they had approached the Congress candidate Miss Noor to project photograph of Miss Mamata Banerjee along with the Congress leaders like Dr Manmohan Singh, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi in the Congress's banners and festoons.”

According to the Trinamul leaders, Miss Mamata Banerjee persistently pursued in favour of Miss Noor's candidature with the Congress High Command when it was grappling with a dilemma over the matter. Miss Noor said that she would approach Miss Mamata Banerjee to kick-start a special election campaign for her in North Malda area separately. “We are trying hard to bring in Mr Rahul Gandhi in the final leg of the campaigning,” she added.