Khondakar: Fit enough?

Calcutta, May 9: The only similarity between the two main rivals for the Serampore Lok Sabha seat is that both did not expect to be in the fight in the first place.

Akbar Ali Khondakar, the sitting MP of the Trinamul Congress, had wanted to be dropped as he is ill. Santasree Chatterjee of the CPM is an MLA from Uttarpara in the Lok Sabha constituency and had never expected to contest at the national level.

But now that they have been fielded, both have jumped into the fray, Khondakar with mineral water bottles and biscuits in hand and Chatterjee with a mobile phone.

Khondakar, who won in 1998 and 1999, appears to have the edge after having spent about 90 per cent of his MP’s local area development funds on the constituency.

But Chatterjee says his rival never highlighted Serampore’s problems on the floor of the House. “Akbar was MP from Serampore since 1998 but I want to know on how many occasions he has raised issues and problems of his constituency on the floor of Parliament,” he asks at a roadside meeting in Serampore town.

Khondakar says he would rather stand by his people than stay in Delhi. “As a parliamentarian, it is my duty to focus on the issues and problems of Serampore in Delhi. But I prefer to stand beside the people of my constituency rather than spend time unnecessarily in Delhi.”

The two may be the main rivals but two others are likely to play a key role in deciding their fate. Serampore municipality chairman Keshto Mukherjee of the Congress could eat into anti-Left votes as the party has its captive vote bank. Khondakar had won by 47,764 votes in 1999.

But then there is Abhas Munshi, a rebel CPM leader who is an Independent candidate. A trade union leader at Hind Motor that has 45,000 voters, Munshi is expected to split CPM votes in the area where the Ambassador factory is located.

Munshi is considered a thorn in Chatterjee’s flesh as he is the candidate of a party that was recently formed by a breakaway faction of the Citu at the factory.