The Importance of Being Adhir Chowdhury in Murshidabad

Arindam Sarkar

The Congress is in awe of him. For the manner in which he goes about the panchayat, Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections. AICC president Sonia Gandhi is all praise for his MP. He is the Congress' Robin Hood in Murshidabad. 

But the Murshidabad Congress is always scared. It apprehends that the CPI(M) might play dirty tricks to derail Adhir and upset the chances of the Congress in recapturing the Zilla Parishad board of Murshidabad and other parliamentary segments.

Looking out of the window of his blue Scorpion speeding past a village, Congress' Murshidabad strongman and MP Adhir Chowdhury is a man possessed.

Adhir says, he does not rule out the CPI(M) trying to sabotage his panchayat election campaign by slapping another false case against him and putting him behind the bars. But even that, he says, will not upset the Congress chances here.

"The CPI(M) can go to any extent to stop me. But the CPI(M) doesn't realize that ever since the Congress won the Zilla Parishad in 2003, every day has been an election day for us. We fought with the CPI(M) daily to work and keep the board going," said AdhirChowdhury. "And so the last 14 days before the polls is no different."

Adhir is in a spin in this scorching summer of Murshidabad. In fact, for the last one month, Adhir has been pushing himself to the last frontiers of human endurance by campaigning for 12 hours daily from 8 am to 8 pm.

His day's campaign over, Adhir meets party leaders at his residence to take feedbacks and suggests corrective measures. He also discusses the deployment of the party workers in the Gram Panchayats and orders additional force if it is required to take on the CPI(M) in that area. Adhir is the general who is leading a Congress army in Murshidabad against the CPI(M).

During panchayat polls, everyday, Adhir addressed seven meetings and according to his campaign schedule he would be covering 2,290 villages that together form the 154 Gram Panchayats, 26 Panchayat Samitis and 60 Zilla Parishads. A similar rigorous campaign he does for the Asembly and the parliamentary polls. In 2011April-May, his day breaks at dawn and ends at wee hours of the morning.

"It is true I do not put in so much effort even during the election campaign for my Bahrampore Lok Sabha seat. My party men take care of my election. But during panchayat, Assembly and parliamentary polls, I carry the entire responsibility of my party candidates on my shoulders. It is very stressful," said Adhir Chowdhury.

There are three Congress MPs in Murshidabad district, including Adhir. But though Pranab Mukerjee and Mannan Hossain are holding public meetings, the responsibility to run the Congress election machinery and party organization has been left on Adhir by Pranab.

The district Congress in February passed a resolution unanimously that selection of candidates and the Congress strategy for the Murshidabad panchayat polls would be determined by Adhir. "This sounds very flattering but you cannot fathom the kind of pressure that comes with it," said Adhir.

Congress' faith on Adhir is understandable. Murshidabad had been a CPI(M) belt from 1978 to 2003. And it wasAdhir who single-handedly built the Congress organisation in the district, prepared a correct voter's list and organised a Congress militia of party workers to stand up to the terror unleashed by the CPI(M) cadres here.

Adhir's strategy paid off. And in a bitterly fought panchayat battle of 2003, the Congress beat the CPI(M) in all the three tiers of the panchayat in Murshidabad. West Bengal panchayat polls in 2003 witnessed maximum violence in Murshidabad.

But in spite of that Congress emerged as the single-largest party here by capturing 1,908 out of 4,096 Gram Panchayat seats, 342 out of 697 Panchayat Samiti seats and 33 out of the 60 Zilla Parishad seats.

"For the first time in 25 years, the CPI(M) lost the Zilla Parishad. I know this time too, it would take recourse to violence to stop people from voting for the Congress. But we are ready for all eventualities," said Adhir.

Refusing to spell out the details of the Congress miltia that would check the rampage of the CPI(M) cadres on the eve of the panchayat elections, Adhir just said that if CPI(M) plays foul it would get the taste  of its own medicine.

"No matter what happens, the Murshidabad Zilla Parishad would remain with the Congress.  We are here to stay by any means," said Ahdir with a wink and a smile on his sun-burnt face. "And this spirit extends to the Assembly and parliamentary seats too."

In Lok Sabha polls 2009, Adhir ensured all three parliamentary seats in the district, including that of Pranab Mukherjee in Jangipur and his own in Bahrampore (the third was won by Mannan Hossain), went to the Congress. In 2011, Adhir is again the main force taking on the CPI(M) and is out to wrest most number of Assembly segments up for grabs in the Murshidabad district.(EOM)