Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress candidate from the Baharampur Assembly constituency, was on Saturday morning heckled allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters during his campaign near the BT College in ward 19 of Behrampore town.

The five-time Lok Sabha MP cut short his campaign and left.

The incident, which unfolded around 10am, took a confrontational turn when a group of Trinamool Congress supporters, reportedly led by party councillor Bhiswadeb Karmakar, raised slogans of “Adhir Chowdhury go back”.

The sloganeering escalated into a face-off between supporters of the two rival camps, culminating in a clash-like situation despite the presence of central forces.

Eyewitnesses and party sources indicated that the septuagenarian was subjected to aggressive behaviour, prompting security concerns and compelling him to leave the campaign site. Chowdhury later alleged that he had anticipated such a situation and alerted the administration, but no effective preventive measures were enforced.

In a statement, the Congress leadership said: “During the campaign, a group of Trinamool Congress goons, carrying party flags, resorted to aggressive behaviour by heckling our party workers with clear intent to intimidate, provoke, and physically harm them. They attempted to target and attack our candidate, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.”

The party alleged a broader pattern of intimidation, accusing the ruling Trinamool of threatening voters with dire consequences if they did not support its candidate, Narugopal Mukherjee.

The allegations against Trinamool gained traction after a viral video purportedly showed the party's booth committee president, Raju Mondal, issuing threats to voters. The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified by The Telegraph.

In the video, Mondal purportedly said: “CCTV cameras will be installed at every polling station. Every voter will be monitored. We will have a clear picture of who is voting for whom. After that, we will deal with them accordingly. We will not send chocolates to those who do not vote for us. We will definitely send something else.”

On the Election Commission's instructions, Behrampore police detained Mondal on Friday night. However, his release on Saturday morning drew sharp reactions from Opposition workers, who questioned the seriousness of the detention.

Against this backdrop, Saturday's confrontation has heightened the political temperature in Behrampore, which is witnessing an intense triangular contest among the BJP, Trinamool and the Congress.

Political observers pointed out that while the Trinamool candidate Mukherjee may have gained an early organisational edge due to the delayed announcement of Chowdhury’s candidature, the ruling party’s aggressive campaigning and confrontational tactics appear to be inadvertently drawing attention to the Congress veteran.

Chowdhury said: “Since I am a Congress candidate, the Trinamool is scared. Their actions show they are trying to stop me from campaigning. They are threatening voters in their homes. I have reported the entire incident to the Election Commission.”

Striking a defiant note, he added: “I am not afraid of their threats. I may not swim now, but that does not mean I have forgotten how to swim.”

His Trinamool rival dismissed the charge and turned the attack back on Chowdhury.

“Adhir babu is 72 years old. He is forgetting that his rowdiness will no longer be allowed. If rowdy Adhir Chowdhury takes to the streets, we will protest against him. But if Congress candidate Adhir Chowdhury campaigns politely, no one will stop him,” Mukherjee said.

Behrampore’s political landscape has undergone significant shifts. In the 2021 Assembly polls, sitting Congress MLA Manoj Chakraborty slipped to third, while the BJP’s Subrata Maitra defeated Trinamool's Mukherjee by a margin of around 25,000 votes.

The BJP's victory marked a departure from the constituency’s longstanding identity as a Congress bastion.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Chowdhury got a lead of around 6,500 votes from this Assembly segment with the CPM's support, but lost the Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency to Trinamool's Yusuf Pathan.

This time, with the Left and Congress contesting separately, the poll arithmetic has become more complex, making Chowdhury’s battle more challenging amid a sharply polarised and volatile campaign.

EC directive

EC sources said it asked Bengal police to initiate disciplinary action against the Behrampore IC and lawful action against four accused Trinamool members for unlawful obstruction during the campaign and the filing of nomination papers by Chowdhury on April 2.