It’s the BJP that virtually helped the Trinamul Congress candidate Yusuf Pathan to defeat the five-time Congress MP and president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in Berhampore Lok Sabha (LS) constituency, a traditional strong citadel of his party in Murshidabad district.
With the defeat of Mr Chowdhury, who is also a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) the party suffered a major setback in the state. Congress has won only one seat in Malda Dakshin in the state.
Trinamul Congress had fielded Mr Pathan, former member of the national cricket team, in Berhampore prompting its rival parties like BJP and Congress to tag him as an ‘outsider’ because he is a resident of Boroda in Gujarat.
Mr Pathan defeated Mr Chowdhury with a margin of more than 70,000 votes. The heavyweight Congress candidate did not taste defeat in the last 25 years in Berhampore. Political observers in Murshidabad felt that Mr Chowdhury’s loss was a result of polarized votes in the constituency. For instance, the BJP candidate, Dr Nirmal Saha, who has got around three lakh and fifty thousand votes has paved the way for victory of Mr Pathan, who has secured nearly four lakh and seventy five thousand votes.
Mr Chowdhury has got more than four lakh votes. “Mr Chowdhury used to get huge votes from both Hindu and minority camps in previous elections in Berhampore. But this time, BJP votes aggravated his fall and at the same time Trinamul Congress has enjoyed the maximum percentage of minority vote banks,” an observer requesting anonymity said.
In the last Assembly elections, in 2021, Trinamul Congress had won six assemblies while BJP had Berhampore only under the Berhampore parliamentary constituency.
Trinamul Congress’s strategic move by nominating the former cricketer Mr Pathan in Berhampore made it difficult for Mr Chowdhury to retain the seat for six times in a row.
No national leader like Rahul Gandhi of Congress was found to campaign for him this time in Berhampore.