Abu Hashem Khan Chowdhury has been replaced as Malda Congress chief after only three days in the post after discontent in the ranks over the family of the late A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury continuing to occupy key roles.

Abu Hashem, the Malda South MP, is the brother of Ghani Khan Chowdhury and had been picked after niece and Malda North MP Mausam Benazir Noor joined Trinamul last week. Trinamul has decided to field Mausam from the same seat.

Mostaque Alam, the Congress MLA of Harishchandrapur in the district, will be the new district chief, AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal said in a letter. Kalisadhan Roy and Bhupendranath Haldar, also an MLA, will be working presidents, the letter adds.

“Abu Hashem Khan Chowdhury is there in the state committee but keeping him away from the district committee is significant. It indicates that our leaders do not want the party to remain centred with the family,” a Congress leader said.

Asked about the change, Abu Hashem said: “None of us are above the party. Whatever the party has decided, we will follow it.”

Alam, the new district president, said it was a “tough time” for the Congress in Malda. “It is a tough time for us and we have to work to revive our support. We will soon draw up a comprehensive campaign plan for the elections and put in all efforts to retain both parliamentary seats in Malda,” Alam said.

In Malda a Congress bastion till a few years back, the activities of the party had always been centred at Kotwali, the ancestral home of the Khan Chowdhury family on the outskirts of the town. Ghani Khan Chowdhury, considered the tallest leader of the party in Malda, had been district chief for many years.

Later, as his health conditions deteriorated, other Congress leaders were brought in, including Sabitri Mitra, who later defected to Trinamul, becoming an MLA and a minister.

As Abu Hashem entered politics in the nineties, he was made district chief. “He continued till 2013, after which the party decided to put Mausam in the post,” said a source.

After Mausam crossed over to Trinamul, district Congress leaders held a meeting on February 2 and picked Abu Hashem as the district party chief again.

“He was selected but discontentment had been brewing in the party with many wondering why the district president cannot be somebody who is not from the Khan Chowdhury family. Also, the state party’s decision to field his (Abu Hashem’s) son Isha from the Malda North seat further fuelled the disaffection. Trinamul decided to field Mausam in her seat as its candidate,” said a Congress insider.

The central Congress leadership seems to have realised the problem and has made the decision to replace Abu Hashem, Congress sources said.

According to the sources, a number of leaders and MLAs, including Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury, Sabitri Mitra, Samar Mukherjee and Sabina Yasmin, have left the party as they were against this practice of having members of the Khan Chowdhury family in top posts and as candidates in parliamentary and Assembly polls.

Abu Hashem The Telegraph picture