New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) In a dramatic development on Tuesday that jolted the Trinamool Congress, raising uncomfortable questions about the durability of party General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s so-called “Diamond Harbour model”, its Falta candidate Jahangir Khan withdrew from the contest barely two days before the Assembly seat goes to re-poll.
Addressing a press conference, Khan said he was stepping down in the interest of “peace and development in Falta”.
The seat made headlines following his defiant “Pushpa” remark in response to an election observer’s reputation as “Singham”.
Khan is being seen as a local strongman who publicly vowed not to “bow down” but has now chosen to step aside, undermining the image of invincibility the Trinamool once held.
“Pushpa jhukega nahi” is originally a dialogue from a popular film.
Khan had earlier regaled his admirers with the Pushpa comment as a mark of confrontation with Ajay Pal Sharma, an Indian Police Service officer from Uttar Pradesh, after the latter warned him against electoral wrongdoing.
Sharma was in South 24 Parganas as a special observer in the run-up to the elections last month.
The 2011-batch Indian Police Service officer is an Additional Commissioner of Police in Prayagraj and is popularly known as Uttar Pradesh’s “encounter specialist”.
Meanwhile, Khan’s name will still appear on voting machines, as the official withdrawal day has long passed.
A re-poll was ordered for Thursday, May 21, after the Election Commission found serious breaches in election procedures during the April 29 election.
Vote counting is scheduled for Sunday, May 24.
The Trinamool candidate’s influence was writ large during the second phase of Assembly polling in Falta.
There were several allegations and reported incidents from across booths in the Assembly constituency.
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Debangshu Panda and others alleged that the button next to his party symbol on the electronic voting machines had been covered with adhesive tape, preventing electors from voting for his party.
West Bengal Assembly polls were held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, and the results of 293 constituencies were announced on May 4, even as a re-poll was ordered for Falta.
With the once-influential Trinamool candidate out of the fray, on-ground arithmetic benefits challengers of the current ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), but not equally, depending on how effectively the two can convert votes in their favour.
For long, Abhishek Banerjee’s “Diamond Harbour model” has been presented as a template for consolidating local power with a mix of grassroots patronage, aggressive mobilisation and centralised leadership, turning the Parliamentary constituency into a near-impenetrable bastion.
Falta is among the Assembly segments of the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat, represented by Banerjee three consecutive times, consolidating the winning margin.
He kept himself away from personally leading the campaign before the Falta re-poll, prompting critics to term his absence a failure of leadership in a constituency considered his stronghold.
“Several people try to be ‘Pushpa’ but ‘Pushpa’ was a ‘phusss’ this time,” an NDTV report quoted Union Minister of State Sukanta Majumdar as saying on Tuesday.
The Trinamool’s Diamond Harbour model depends on a network of local leaders, and Khan’s exit exposes weakening on-the-ground anchors.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has already seized on the withdrawal to taunt the Trinamool leadership.
He then reportedly questioned Banerjee’s leadership, too.
“So, all these ‘Pushpas’ and their boss, there used to be photos in Diamond Harbour stating ‘AB (Abhishek Banerjee) jhukega nahi’. Everyone is bending now. AB’s agent bhi jhuk gaya (has bowed); AB bhi jhukega (will bow too),” added the former West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party chief.
The Trinamool, meanwhile, portrayed Khan’s exit as forced, citing political intimidation and administrative pressure.
— IANS
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