Abu Naser (second from left) with niece Shahnaz Quadri at the subdivisional office in Malda. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, Oct. 20: Abu Naser Khan Chowdhury’s name has been re-included in the electoral rolls here without a hitch paving the way for his contesting the Sujapur bypolls, a day before the filing of nominations ends.

District Congress leaders hope that Abu Naser’s name will now be approved by the AICC. But both Abu Naser and the AICC-nominated Hamidur Rahman said they would file their nominations tomorrow. However, Hamidur said he would withdraw his nomination as soon as the Congress high command asked him to.

“The AICC had announced my name as the Congress candidate and that is why I will file my nomination tomorrow. But if the high command wants me to withdraw, I will,” Hamidur said.

The date for scrutiny is on October 23, a day before the last date for withdrawal of nominations.

Abu Naser, accompanied by niece Shahnaz Quadri and other Congress leaders, including Hamidur, came to subdivisional officer Prakash Pal’s chamber today for a hearing on his plea that his name be included in the Malda voters’ list. However, no Congress MLA or even Abu Naser’s brother and Malda South MP Abu Hashem Khan Chowdhury had accompanied him. Mausam Noor, another of Abu Naser’s niece and MP of Malda North, was also absent.

Pal called the delegation inside his chamber at 10.30am and the hearing went on for 30 minutes.

“You had sent in a request to delete your name from the electoral rolls as you said you were a resident of Delhi. A few weeks ago, you again said you were a resident of Malda,” the subdivisional officer said.

Abu Naser expressed his regrets for what he had done in the past and submitted in writing why he had done it. “I had been the victim of a conspiracy hatched in some quarters. If I had taken your advice, this (voter list controversy) would not have happened. I was made to believe that I could contest the elections if I was a voter in any Indian state, but that is the case only for the Lok Sabha polls,” Abu Naser told the subdivisional officer.

Pal said all the documents submitted by Abu Naser had passed muster. By noon, his name had been included in the voters’ list. “We will inform the chief electoral officer about the inclusion by 3pm,” Pal said.

Contacted over the phone in Calcutta, PCC working president Pradip Bhattacharya said: “We are sending Lebuda’s name to the AICC immediately. Now that he has become a local voter, there is no more hurdle to his candidature.”

The CPM candidate for Sujapur, Esaruddin Mondol, filed his nomination today.

Morcha support

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to support Wilson Champramary for the Kalchini Assembly seat in the Dooars, the by-election to which will be held on November 7 along with nine others, reports our Kalimpong correspondent.

Morcha secretary Roshan Giri said in Darjeeling the decision to back Champramary was taken to express solidarity with the minority groups. Champramary is from the minority Bodo community.