While the battle for rural election tickets may have finally come to an end, a squabble among activists of the ruling Trinamul Congress still remains. The activists are now still fighting after the Trinamul leadership in Siliguri and Jalpaiguri gave tickets and symbols to candidates in the fray for the forthcoming three-tier rural polls.
The bickering among Trinamul workers, especially in the lower tier, has allegedly had an adverse effect in some areas in north Bengal, thereby raising BJP candidates’ hopes. It may be mentioned here that the BJP has spread its wings in Fulbari and Dabgram areas in Jalpaiguri district.
A conflict over party ticket for the lower tier under the Fulbari Garm Panchayat near Uttarkanya, under the Rajganj Block in Jalpaiguri, is just the tip of the iceberg, sources say.
Muhammad Zamal started campaigning as a party candidate for a gram panchayat seat at Kamrangaguri, in front of Uttarkanya in Siliguri, following instructions from the party’s unit president and following recommendation from the party’s booth committee.
However, another party leader Iyanul Haque (Munshi) filed his nomination paper as a Trinamul candidate against Md Zamal, the party’s official candidate there.
The rebel candidate even allegedly challenged the leadership in both Siliguri and Jalpaiguri and claimed that he would win and gift the seat to the party as an Independent candidate.
Interestingly, the process was delayed following the Calcutta High Court’s directions and at the last moment, Mr Haque managed the ticket by beating Mr Zamal. The Independent candidate’s camp turned into a party office for election campaigning overnight.
Party supporters who left their official camp have started campaigning for Mr Zamal as an Independent candidate by selecting a boat as his symbol against Mr Iyanul.
Mr Zamal and his associates have already started ‘unpleasant’ campaigning against the now official candidate by portraying him as a corrupt person. Talking to reporters, Mr Zamal said: “The party nominated me as a candidate and asked me to file nomination papers. But the party finally did not allot me a ticket. I am in the dark as to what prompted the party to allot the ticket to another leader.”