Factional infighting within Trinamool Congress intensified in the Harishchandrapur Assembly constituency of Malda after phase one of voting on April 23.

The discord began a few months back when the party replaced outgoing MLA and minister of state Tajmul Hossain with businessman Md Motibur Rahman as its candidate. The decision reportedly triggered resentment among Hossain and his
supporters.

Sensing possible non-cooperation during the campaign, the party leadership attempted to placate Hossain.

Rahman — who had contested in the BJP’s ticket in the last Assembly elections — also visited Hossain’s residence seeking his support.

However, after the April 23 voting day, Rahman alleged that Hossain, along with his brother Jammu Rahman and their faction, had covertly supported Congress candidate Mostaque Alam to defeat him.

“He was called several times to participate in the campaign, but Tajmul Hossain remained inactive. Just days before polling, we found evidence that he and his supporters were working against the party to ensure a Congress victory,” Rahman, the Trinamool candidate, claimed.

Supporting these allegations, Marjina Khatun, a member of the Trinamool-run Malda Zilla Parishad, accused Hossain’s faction of distributing food and money among voters in favour of the Congress.

“A camp office of our party (Trinamool) set up near Tajmul Hossain’s residence was also vandalised by his supporters. We narrowly escaped the attack,” she said.

Hossain, however, has strongly denied all allegations, asserting his loyalty to the party.

“These are baseless claims intended to malign me. I have been elected MLA from Harishchandrapur three times and have always followed party directives. During the elections, I was humiliated and excluded from campaigning by Md Motibur Rahman and his associates. I will report this to the party leadership,” he said.