Mamata’s bid to create dent in Congress bastion

In a bid to dent Congress bastions in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday held a rally at Baharampur of Murshidabad district and announced several steps for the overall development of the area.

Murshidabad district – one of the strongest and safest bastions of Congress – has often been termed as an “impregnable Congress fort” led by MP Adhir Chaudhury.

With state panchayat polls round the door, Banerjee’s official visit to the district and announcement of development projects is being seen as a bid to increase the influence of Trinamool Congress in the district.

“We will build schools and hospitals in the area. We will take up financial packages for the development of the area, especially the backward sections,” said Banerjee.

Such is Chaudhury’s hold over the district, that in 2004 he persuaded President Pranab Mukherjee – till then derisively called a ‘rootless wanderer’ for his inability to win direct elections – to contest from Jangipur which subsequently elected him twice to the Lok Sabha.

In the past six months, alliance partners Congress and Trinamool Congress have locked horns over various issues with the Congress accusing the latter of misrule.

File Photo : AFP