LONE WARRIOR OF THE CONGRESS

THE VOLUBLE ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY FIGHTS WITH HIS BACK TO THE WALL IN HIS BASTION OF BAHARAMPUR

- ARKAMOY DATTA MAJUMDAR

A CURIOUS SIGHT GREETED PEOPLE AT THE JOINT rally in CONGRESS-CPI(M) Baharampur, in Murshidabad district, on April 18. Supporters were struck by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury-the Bengal Congress chief who is seeking to be elected from the Baharampur constituency, which he has been winning since 1999, for a sixth time-with a scarf printed with CPI(M) symbols around his neck. The Congress and the Left are strange bedfellows, but this is the new political reality in Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's TMC, though part of the INDIA alliance, has decided to contest alone. And Chowdhury, who opposed a seat-sharing deal with the TMC, has been among Mamata's worst critics. Standing beside him was CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim, the alliance candidate from the Murshidabad seat.