Malda, West Bengal: Inside a sprawling bungalow in Kotwali, about 10 km from Malda town, two SUVs are parked in the driveway, one after the other. But this isn’t what catches a visitor’s eye walking past the tall gate — the flags fixed atop the SUVs do.
While the white SUV carries a Trinamool Congress (TMC) flag, the red one carries the Congress flag.
This is the house where one of Malda’s most popular Congress leaders and eight-time MP, A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhury, lived. Choudhury, who died in 2006, is remembered for setting up colleges and carrying out a host of other development work in Malda during his tenure as minister in the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi governments.
Choudhury’s family, too, has been associated with the Congress. Malda, which has two parliamentary seats — Malda North and Malda South — is one of the few remaining Congress bastions in West Bengal. In the last general elections, besides the two seats from Malda, the Congress won from only Jangipur and Baharampur in the state.
Today, however, political division in the Choudhury family is threatening to end Congress’s long run in the party stronghold.
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‘Unfortunate move’ vs ‘decisive leadership’
Mausam Noor, Choudhury’s niece and the sitting MP from Malda North, deserted the Congress to join the TMC ahead of Lok Sabha elections, and is contesting against her cousin and Choudhury’s nephew, Isha Khan Choudhury, from the same seat.
Isha Khan is a sitting MLA from the Sujapur legislative constituency and son of Choudhury’s brother Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury, 82, who is a three-time Congress MP and is contesting from Malda South.
Despite being part of different camps in politically charged West Bengal, all of them, however, continue to live in separate sections of the same house.
“They may be political rivals but they continue to live in the same house. After finishing their day’s campaigning they return to the same house,” says Abu Hasem, who is also Noor’s uncle.
While Noor and Isha Khan’s families share the same compound to enter and their respective homes, and the parking space, they have separate kitchens. Her section of the house is demarcated by a small boundary wall.
Choudhury senior calls Noor’s move to leave the Congress as “unfortunate”, but says one must “respect” her decision.
“I am sorry about it because this house is the symbol and pillar of Congress. Going away from here is a very unfortunate. However, we have to believe in the personal will of the person,” Choudhury senior tells ThePrint when asked if there is a sense of bitterness in the family because of Noor leaving the Congress.
However, Abu Hasem says the move has nothing to with personal relationships.
“It is perhaps the constituency she thought will deliver in favour of her because the party she joined is in power in the state now. But the problem is no party can stick to power forever. They will change,” he adds.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi earlier called Noor “gaddar” for betraying his party and joining the TMC.
Noor, however, tells ThePrint that Gandhi is free to have his view but she decided to join the TMC because of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s leadership.
“She is a decisive leader and has changed the face of West Bengal. I wanted to be associated with her.”
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End of Congress reign in Malda?
The Malda constituency has remained with the Congress and members of the Choudhury family for almost three decades now. But the decision of Noor, a two-time Congress MP from the seat, has created uncertainty for the party in Malda.
The district has over 50 per cent Muslim population and Congress leaders fear that Noor’s move will cause a division of votes between the two parties.
“This does not augur well for us. The division of Muslim votes will benefit the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) in Malda, which till sometime back was not even in the reckoning,” says a local Congress leader who did not wish to be named.
The BJP has fielded former Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Khagen Murmu from Malda North.
In Malda South, Abu Hasem is pitted against TMC’s Moazzem Hossain and BJP’s Sreerupa Mitra Choudhury.
While the BJP has stepped up the tempo in Hindu pockets of the town, Abu Hasem doesn’t see the saffron party making much inroads in the region.
“In Malda town, there are a varieties of issue and thinking. I don’t think they (BJP) will succeed in polarising the voters. The educated people of Malda will see through such tactics,” he tells ThePrint.
Malda goes to polls on 23 April in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
‘Old times’
The staff at the Choudhury household, meanwhile, says it misses the old times when Ghani Khan was still around.
“Barkat da and his sister Ruby Noor (Mausam’s mother) were leaders of a different stature. There were revered leaders in their own respect. They had held the family together,” says a staff member on condition of anonymity.
Malda residents, though, say it’s going to be an interesting contest this time, which will decide whether Congress retains its bastion or TMC manages to sneak past it.
And so for the next couple of weeks, A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhury’s house will remain the central focal point in Malda as two members of the household go about their job, fighting on the opposite sides of this electoral battle.
Our family left Calcutta in 1977, as did the Congress. Neither has been back since. With 42 seats, too large an entity to write off for a national party.