Uncle-niece contest hots up as confusion reigns

Statesman News Service

MALDA, March 31: Confusion reigns supreme for the Congress in the North Malda constituency. While the party's district vice president Mr Masidur Rahman today said that the nominated candidate Miss Mausam Noor today had received the party symbol from the high command, the party's district secretary Mr Hassan Ali Shah said that the statement was a lie.

Mr Shah, who is close to the other contender and Miss Noor's maternal uncle Dr AN Khan Choudhury, said: “The vice-president is lying. We held a meeting in the party office in presence of the vice president. He was told not to comment on the matter of the symbol but he chose to do so. Dr Khan Choudhury will meet Mrs Sonia Gandhi to hear the final decision. We will abide by whatever she says,” he said.

Mr Shah, however, refrained from elaborating on whether Dr Khan Choudhury, who has reportedly hinted about contesting from the constituency as an Independent candidate if the Congress refused to nominate him, would really do so. “The matter has not been finalised,” he said.

Dr Khan Choudhury's desperate attempt to secure a ticket has exposed a family feud upsetting not only Miss Noor but also other Congress leaders including the Malda Congress MP and district Congress president Mr AH Khan Choudhury.

Miss Noor told reporters today: “The developments are sending a wrong message to the voters. We will try to sort out the problem soon with Dr Khan Choudhury.”

With the candidate fiasco still on, the Congress has not been able to launch a full-scale campaign in North Malda. The district Congress president had decided to organize a meeting today with the district leaders to project Miss Noor and formulate strategies for the polls. The meeting did not take place as the district president, who is also the South Malda candidate, left his home in the morning to campaign in his constituency. This indicates that the candidature controversy in North Malda is still far from over.