Kharagpur, April 21: At 90, the Congress's Bhishma in Kharagpur is finally appointing a "successor".

Gyan Singh Sohanpal, the party's veteran and patriarchal figure here, has brought in his nephew's wife to contest a seat in the April 25 municipal elections. This is the first time a member of his close family is being associated with politics.

Thanks mainly to Chacha, an affectionate sobriquet his colleagues, counterparts and even political adversaries address him with, the Congress has had the upper hand in Kharagpur municipality since 1995.

No wonder the 34 party candidates as well as a Congress-backed Independent have come to Sohanpal for his blessings.

An MLA from Kharagpur since 1969 (except for the five years from 1977 when the Janata wave dislodged many a Congressman), Sohanpal has been able to nurture and mould his Kharagpur fiefdom over the years. There has hardly been a rumbling or murmur of dissent.

Why he commands this respect and veneration was evident during a visit to his office on Friday. At 10.30am, Chacha was seated in his office near Golbazar, as he usually is. After perusing the day's newspapers for half an hour, he moved in to the main party office area to speak with other leaders and workers.

At that point, Tapan Ghosh, the Congress councillor from ward 27 came rushing in. He was agitated and, in a high-pitched voice, said: "Chacha, our candidate Ashis Hembram (who is contesting from the ward this time) is being harassed by the RPF. His parents stay in a railway outhouse.... They are being told to vacate."

Sohanpal just raised his hand and stopped him. "Will someone please bring some tea or coffee for Tapan?" He turned to Ghosh and said: "Tapan, please sit down, have some tea-coffee. Then I will listen to you."

Sohanpal continued speaking with the Congress workers. Exactly 10 minutes later, he again turned to Ghosh. "Yes Tapan, what were you saying?"

Party contender from ward 21 Damodar Rao, who was sitting close-by, murmured: "This is Chacha. He never gets agitated, and will not allow anyone to become so."

Asked by The Telegraph how he managed, Sohanpal replied: "Tapan was so agitated that he would have mixed up what to say and what not to. In such a state, I too would not have been able to understand what he wants to say. That's why I stopped him."

After hearing out Ghosh, Sohanpal picked up his cellphone and spoke to the outgoing chairman of the municipality, the Congress's Ravishankar Pandey. "Ravi, please go to the DRM's bungalow and speak with Tapan and Ashis." By evening, the problem had been solved.

Of the 35 wards in Kharagpur municipality, the Congress is contesting in 34. In ward 16, an Independent backed by the Congress is in the fray.

The flexes in all the 34 wards have a picture of the candidate, the Congress symbol, and a photograph of the familiar Chachaji. At 90, the bachelor still heads the Congress here as a patriarch.

"We don't know who is the district president, or who the state president is. Chacha is all-in-all for us. He is the solution to all our problems," said the party's Kharagpur town president Amal Das.

In the same vein, Pandey says: "Chacha is a guardian to us. Other than party problems, we even take our family problems to him. The humility and patience that a leader requires is typified in him. We have a lot to learn from him. He is like Bhishma Pitamah to us."

The hot sun is beating down on the town's roads. Turning to Rao, Sohanpal says: "What's the use of sitting idle in the office. Let's go out and campaign." Rao immediately replies, "No, no Chacha. There's no need for you to go out in this heat. We will manage it."

Putting his hand on Rao's shoulder, Sohanpal says: "Why brother, don't you need an old person like me any more? Have I become an old horse, or what?" An embarrassed Rao bends down and touches his feet: "No, no, it's not that."

A flurry of activity follows as word spreads that Chacha will go out to campaign. Shouldering party flags and holding umbrellas, Congress workers walk behind him as he goes to some areas near his home. Some people touch his feet, some hug him. As he walks along, the procession gets longer and longer.

In between, speaking to this correspondent, he says: "This is my last term as MLA. I have to let the new generation come in."

Asked who will be his successor, Sohanpal says the party will decide that.

"But you are the party here." He immediately shakes his head. "No, it is not me. The party made me, and the citizens have blessed and loved me."

This is the first time that a close relative of Sohanpal is entering politics.

His nephew's wife, Dharamjit Kaur Sohanpal, 45, will be contesting from ward 26 against a sitting Trinamul councillor. "Our family has all along been Congress supporters. I agreed without hesitation when Chachaji approached me. I will look up to him for valuable guidance," she said.