Congress workers demonstrate outside the hotel where Pranab Mukherjee addressed a news conference. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Calcutta, April 8: State Congress president Pranab Mukherjee and AICC general secretary Margaret Alva were held up for nearly an hour today following a demonstration by party workers against denial of tickets for the Assembly elections.

Hordes of Congress workers from Burrabazar, Garden Reach and Burdwan had laid siege to the party’s state headquarters for three days last week to protest against the selection of nominees for the polls. The situation came to such a pass that a police picket had to be posted there.

Today, over 200 Congress workers agitating against denial of nomination to a youth leader for the Jorabagan seat gathered at a hotel where Mukherjee and Alva were to release the party’s manifesto and a final list of candidates.

The demonstration began around 1.15 pm when Mukherjee was about to leave for Midnapore after winding up a news conference. But faced with protests from the slogan-shouting Congress workers at the hotel gate, a red-faced Mukherjee had to retreat to the hotel’s first floor where the news conference was held.

In May last year, Mukherjee was heckled at the PCC headquarters by Congress workers over distribution of tickets for civic body elections. He had said action would be taken against those involved but the matter was brushed under the carpet.

“How could the Congress workers demonstrate in front of the hotel?” a fuming Mukherjee asked PCC working president Pradip Bhattacharya, who was at a loss for words.

Jayanta Bhattacharya, a former Congress-backed Independent MP, came forward to escort Mukherjee and Alva to the ground floor. But the situation took a turn for the worse. The angry Congress workers, waving party flags and shouting “go back CPM’s stooge”, tried to block Mukherjee’s convoy.

Police intervened to disperse the demonstrators and clear Mukherjee’s path. “Though nobody touched Mukherjee’s car, we found it difficult to control the aggressive Congress workers,” said a police official.

Rajesh Sinha, a youth Congress worker who was at the head of today’s demonstration, said party workers would agitate wherever Mukherjee addresses rallies in the run-up to the elections.

“I was promised a ticket by Pranabbabu for the Jorabagan seat as I was placed second in the 2004 byelections, bagging over 9,000 votes. But he has given a ticket to Sajjan Saraf, an outsider,” he alleged.

Sinha, who claimed to have the “blessings” of former PCC chief Somen Mitra, said he would not campaign for Saraf for the Jorabagan seat.