Congress veteran Adhir Chowdhury wages a lonely battle in Baharampur

Mustafizur Rahman, a middle-aged trader from Beldanga, identifies himself as a staunch supporter of West Bengal’s ruling TMC party.

That does not, however, prevent him from switching loyalty when it comes to the Lok Sabha elections, he says sheepishly in between taking sumptuous bites of a chicken patty and sipping coffee at a bakery in Cossimbazar, a town under Baharampur constituency.

Adhir’s admirers

The woman behind the counter, too, suffers from a similar duality. She had voted for Subrata Maitra (Kanchan) in the 2021 Assembly elections to help the BJP win the Baharampur seat for the first time ever.

But when the homonymous Lok Sabha constituency goes to polls on May 13, the two will pick Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress nominee.

They, like many in the constituency, are great admirers of the benevolent and no-nonsense approach of the Pradesh Congress Committee chief, who has represented the seat in parliament since 1999.

What Adhir has done

“No leader has done as much for the constituency as he has," Rahman claimed. “Besides, he never disappoints anyone who approaches him for help. More importantly, political affiliation, caste and creed of those seeking help never matter to him.”

The woman added: “If women can roam around the city alone without any hesitation late at night, it is because of him.”

She reiterated a town legend about how Chowdhury, as a younger MP, used to flog miscreants and eve-teasers with his belt in full public view.

Lone ranger

It is this image of Chowdhury that still makes him a top contender to win the seat even as his party’s organisational base has withered away.

The parliamentary constituency is composed of seven Assembly segments. But the Congress failed to win any of these in the last Assembly elections, having lost six seats to the TMC and one to the BJP.

“People vote for Adhir-da (elder brother) without seeing his party affiliation. He himself is a party,” said Biswanath Mishra, state secretary of the Chhatra Parishad, the student wing of the Congress.

Adhir’s problems

However, this bigger-than-party image of the Congress chief is a double-edged sword. Many of his close aides and important Congress leaders of the district, such as Apurba Sarkar and Humayun Kabir, left the party refusing to be under the constant shadow of Chowdhury.

The 68-year-old Chowdhury is no longer his younger version who could work round the clock to attend to the needs of his constituency.

“During the Covid-19 pandemic, he was not seen in the constituency. He was not around when people needed him the most. It is we, the TMC leaders and workers, who risked our lives to be with the people,” said Apurba Sarkar, TMC’s Kandi MLA and a former Chowdhury aide.

TMC survey

The internal survey done by the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) for the TMC ahead of the party’s Lok Sabha ticket distribution indicated that Chowdhury’s huge popularity in the district is on the wane.

“We had suggested that a popular Muslim face be fielded to take him (Chowdhury) on. Paying heed to our suggestion, Abhishek Banerjee (the TMC general secretary) persuaded Yusuf bhai (former India cricketer Yusuf Pathan) to be the party nominee,” said an I-PAC member attached to Pathan’s campaign team.

Apart from the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government’s welfare schemes, Pathan in his campaign has been harping on building a sports academy in the constituency if he is elected to the Lok Sabha.

Yusuf, the “outsider”

By fielding Pathan, the TMC has robbed the Opposition of the opportunity of mounting any scathing attack on its candidate. The only charge against him is that he is an outsider and will not be available in the constituency.

“I am not the sort to run away from responsibility. If Gujarat is my janmabhoomi, Baharampur is my karmabhumi. I will stay put here to serve the people irrespective of the outcome of election results,” the TMC candidate told The Federal.

Apart from his personal charisma, the hugely popular cricketer also has the support of the TMC’s formidable organisational base – something Chowdhury lacks.

Home advantage

The veteran parliamentarian, on the other hand, is banking on his home advantage and charges of corruption against the TMC to sail through for a sixth consecutive term.

“It is in this alley where I grew up… You know me and have seen me perform. It is your blessings that made it possible for me to sit beside Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha. What more can I ask of you? Continue to bless me,” Chowdhury told a street-corner meeting in Cossimbazar.

Will such personal equations be enough to win a tough battle? In 2019, Chowdhury’s vote share dipped by over 5 per cent when the Congress had a much stronger organisation. For the record, the party won all the seven Assembly seats that formed the constituency in 2016.

Polarised voters

Apart from organisational weakness, Chowdhury this time is also battling attempts to polarise votes.

Last month, during Ram Navami, communal clashes broke out in the constituency’s Saktipur area. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath campaigned in the area on April 30 in support of BJP candidate Nirmal Kumar Saha, a well-known doctor, in a bid to further polarise the situation.

Against such odds, Chowdhury is fighting a lone battle to defend his turf.