Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, in a major embarrassment to the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC), party MP from Malda North, Mausam Benazir Noor defected to the ruling Trinamool Congress.
On Monday, along with state transport minister and in-charge of Murshidabad district Suvendu Adhikari, Noor met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna, the state secretariat.
“She has been made the general secretary of the party and would be campaigning for the party in North Dinajpore, South Dinajpore and Malda districts. On January 30 she will be present at the rally in north Bengal,” Adhikari said.
Malda had been a Congress stronghold for decades. Mausam is the niece of late Congress stalwart ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury. People still vote in favour of the Choudhury family just because of the name and political experts believe that the defection came as soon as she realised that the state Congress would not join hands with the TMC in the forthcoming general elections.
At Nabanna, talking to mediapersons, Mausam said, “People of Malda are impressed with the kind of work Mamata Banerjee has been doing and thus I too felt the need working under her leadership. She had been proactive during the 2017 floods and ensured that all the families got compensation. Again after the murder of Md Afrazul Khan in Rajasthan, her party members reached the residence of Afrazul and extended all help.”
In last year's Panchayat polls, Congress’ vote bank in its traditional stronghold – Malda, had been dented by Trinamool Congress. Out of the total 14 Zilla Parishad seats in Malda, six seats were bagged by each of the Trinamool Congress and BJP, leaving only two for Congress. Noor had also advocated at an alliance with the ruling party in the state to prevent BJP from making inroads in the state.
Despite the Modi wave in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress won both the seats in Malda – Malda North and South. After Noor jumping the ship, speculation is rife that other Congress MP Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury is also in talks with the ruling party in the state through the back channels.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that it was an unfortunate decision. “TMC is trying to weaken Congress and in the process it is helping BJP. TMC is working as the agent of BJP. I believe our organisation is strong and we will keep on making it stronger,” Gogoi said.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pradeep Bhattacharya said, “We have been hearing about it for sometime but whenever we asked her she had denied any such possibilities. My question is why did she have to lie about it? The local Congress workers will not accept this. I believe the decision has been taken in a haste and she will be back after good sense prevails."
