West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh has beaten Congress MLA Gyan Singh Sohanpal from Kharagpur Sadar seat in West Midnapore district by 6,309 votes. At 91, Sohanpal is the senior-most of the outgoing Assembly and fought his first elections in 1962.Now after 52 years and 10 stints as a Congress MLA, Gyan Singh Sohanpal, at 91, is the eldest candidate in the fray in the State. He has been representing Kharagpur Sadar continously from 1982. Kharagpur, which has a sizeable chunk of Muslim and Malayali voters, has traditionally rooted for him but he lost out to Dilip Ghosh in the end.
Ghosh had earlier been in the news for calling Jadavpur University girls ‘shameless’. He had said: “Jadavpur University girls are shameless. They have filed baseless complaints of molestation. They lean on boys and then complain of molestation. If they are so scared of their self-respect, why do they have to go the university?” Ghosh asked.
He had also earlier threatened to kill anyone who shouted Pakistan Zindabad. He had said: “Anyone who raises slogans of 'Pakistan Zindabad' will be chopped by six inches from top.”
With agency inputs
