The Trinamool Congress’s decision to drop Abdul Karim Chowdhury from the Islampur Assembly constituency that he represented for around five decades has invited the wrath of his supporters, who have said they are ready to back him if he contests as an Independent.

Among the nine Assembly seats in North Dinajpur district, Islampur is the only constituency where Trinamool dropped the sitting MLA from the fray. The party has fielded district president Kanaialal Agarwala in Islampur.

Chowdhury’s supporters said denying the nomination to a leader of his stature could negatively affect Trinamool’s electoral performance.

“Our leader, Abdul Karim Choudhury, has been the MLA of Islampur for around 50 years and works for people. He has been dropped for no reason, and the party will face the consequences. Even if his contests as an Independent candidate, we will back him,” said one of his supporters.

Chowdhury, who won the Islampur seat 11 times on Congress and Trinamool symbols and as an Independent, is currently in Calcutta. He has not made any public statement on the development so far.

The Congress has stepped in to capitalise on the disenchantment. “We are ready to offer a ticket to Abdul Karim Chowdhury in Islampur. However, we have not been able to contact him so far,” said Mohit Sengupta, the district Congress president.

The differences between Chowdhury and Agarwala have reportedly been brewing for some time, with disagreements over organisational matters and leadership roles in the district.

Despite occasional reconciliation efforts in the past, the rift appears to have resurfaced following the candidate’s announcement.

Agarwala, who has been the chairman of the Islampur municipality for the past 25 years, however, downplayed the dissent, saying he had public support and that the party’s decision would be respected.

“He (Chowdhury) is a senior leader and will be invited to join the campaign. But if he makes any other move, we have nothing to do. Even if he and his supporters act against us, it would not affect the results,” said Agarwala.

Other Trinamool leaders, however, said they couldn’t ignore the dissent against Agarwala’s nomination.

“We will work for the candidate announced by the party. But we cannot
downplay the dissent, and we will have to reach out to Chowdhury’s supporters to placate their grievances,”
said Javed Akhtar, the
North Dinajpur district secretary of Trinamool’s minority cell.