By IANS,
Kolkata : Besides giving their verdict against the state’s ruling Left Front, people of West Bengal have also sent to the Lok Sabha a father-son duo and a maternal uncle-niece combine.
While Trinamool Congress veteran Sisir Adhikari won from Kanthi, his son Subhendu Adhikari was elected from neighbouring Tamluk – which also includes troubled Nandigram – in East Midnapore district.
Seventy one-year-old Sisir Adikari, a sitting MLA from Egra, defeated Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) candidate and present MP Prasanta Pradhan.
Subhendu, a 35-year-old legislative assembly member from Contai South, stunned CPI-M strongman and sitting MP Laxman Seth.
Subhendu had been the face of the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram, as he spearheaded the peasants’ protests which forced the state’s ruling Left front to abandon its bid to establish a chemical hub last year. Subhendu had fought Seth unsuccessfully in the the 2004 Lok Sabha election.
In the north Bengal district of Malda, it was all in the family for the Congress.
While Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury was re-elected from Malda South seat, his niece Mausam Benazir Noor tasted success on her maiden electoral attempt from neighbouring Malda North. Both of them prevailed over CPI-M rivals.
While Hasem won by a huge margin of over 1.36 lakh votes against Abdur Razzaque, Mausam got past veteran Marxist and state minister Sailen Sarkar.
Both of them are relatives of late central minister Abu Barkat Ataul Ghani Khan Chowdhury, who was considered the uncrowned king of Malda for his development work in the district during several stints in the union cabinet.
However, the candidate selection stage had been witness to the maternal uncle and the niece getting involved in a family feud over the denial of nomination to Hasem’s brother Abu Naser Khan Chowdhury in Malda North.
Hasem, Malda district congress president, had initially rooted for Naser, but supported his niece after the Congress high command gave the final nod to her candidature.