Heavyweights from various walks of life fight in Baharampur

It is a battle of the Titans in Murshidabad's Baharampur, where five-time MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress is taking on Trinamool candidate Yusuf Pathan and BJP's Nirmal Chandra Saha. Voting is scheduled for May 13.

The fight has also turned personal between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Chowdhury, who was against any compromise by the Congress with the Trinamool over seats. To challenge Chowdhury, Trinamool has brought in Pathan, a Gujarati who for several years was a player of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

While Chowdhury is very vocal in his criticism of Banerjee, the CM has also not minced words in attacking the Congress leader. She blames him for the failure of the alliance with the Congress as part of INDI Bloc in Bengal, and calls him an "agent of the BJP" who has teamed up with the CPM.

In an interaction with ET, Chowdhury said the Trinamool leader had walked out of the bloc unilaterally, but was now saying that she was not leaving the alliance.

"Which situation has triggered you to abandon the INDI Alliance, which has created a great sensation across the nation. Even PM Narendra Modi was rattled by the consultation of the opposition parties. But at that time first Nitish Kumarji departed. Then, Banerjee, without citing any rhyme or reason, departed the INDIA bloc. She thought it was prudent to leave the INDIA bloc," he said.

Meanwhile, Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee too stressed that in Baharampur, the party's main rival was Chowdhury. "Our fight is against the BJP. But in Baharampur, our fight is against BJP's dummy candidate," he said during a road show in the constituency Wednesday.

Minority votes
With more than two-thirds of Baharampur's population being Muslims, the Trinamool is targeting consolidation in the community votes in its favour. In multiple rallies, the CM has urged the minority community to vote only for her party, while calling the Congress-Left alliance as a "B-Team" of the BJP.

Chowdhury said her ploy would not work. "None should take the Muslim vote bank for granted. The double-faced nature of Banerjee is thoroughly exposed," he said.

The Lok Sabha constituency has seven assembly segments: Burwan (SC), Kandi, Bharatpur, Rejinagar, Beldanga, Baharampur and Naoda - all in the Murshidabad district. The state's ruling Trinamool Congress holds six of the assembly seats, while Baharampur is with the BJP.

BJP candidate Saha, a surgeon by profession, is banking on Narendra Modi's development policies to win votes.

"There is a migration of the workforce, from migrant workers to skilled doctors and engineers. Around 55 lakh people have migrated from Bengal to other states and various parts of the world, with around 5 lakh doctors, engineers and other skilled personnel. Unless we stop this, Bengal will turn into an old age home," he told ET.

Pathan, meanwhile, is getting huge response for his celebrity status in the suburb town of Murshidabad.

Locals said the BJP would get substantial votes this time. Dilip Das said, a local from Baharampur: "This is known as Adhir's stronghold, but BJP is also making inroads here."