Congress names Ghatak for Hills, state unit surprised

Sujay Ghatak Photo: TT

Arshad Ali, IE,  Kolkata | March 19, 2014: Congress’s third list of Lok Sabha candidates declared on Tuesday has taken its West Bengal unit by surprise. Among the 58 nominees, there is only one name from the state, which is also not the one the state Congress leaders had recommended.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has nominated Sujoy Ghatak, the councillor of Ward Number 16 of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, from Darjeeling instead of “much-favoured” former MP Dawa Narbula, who held the seat from 2004 to 2009.

Sources in the party said the state Congress is not very happy with Ghatak’s nomination and believe it would impact the poll results adversely.

“Narbula is a far more popular figure. His name was there in the recommendation list that the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) had sent to the AICC. The central selection committee has chosen Ghatak on its own,” said a senior WBPCC leader.

Darjeeling MLA Shankar MLA admitted Ghatak’s nomination was unexpected. “We thought Narbula would be nominated,” he said.

Asked if he was disappointed and if it would mean be a dip in the morale of the party workers, he said, “Who has been nominated by the AICC is none of our business. We are here to back the candidate and ensure he wins.”

Ghatak is confident of the responsibility entrusted on him by the party’s central leadership.

“I am happy my party has so much confidence in me,” Ghatak said, adding he has a better chance to win as he was “an area local”.

“The previous MPs were known names but not known men. There have been instances when people of the winning party had put up posters saying ‘MP Missing’. I feel people felt the need of an MP who would be accessible and stand by them in times of need. I think I fit the bill most,” he said.

On Trinamool Congress’s candidate Baichung Bhutia from Darjeeling, he said Bhutia was a good football player but politics was a different ballgame.

“I think people should mature into a politician. We have done students’ politics and have been in this field for years together. Bhutia has grown from strength to strength as a footballer but I don’t think he can establish his credibility as an MP among the people of Darjeeling,” he said.

A senior Congress leader said two other probables from Bengal in the next list would be Rezia Ahmed from Krishnanagar and Zahid Khan from Asansol.

While Khan was not available for comment, Rezia said, “Though it has not been announced formally, the party president has told me about it. I am happy but it will be a huge responsibility.”

TT, Calcutta, March 18: The Congress today picked a councillor of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation as the candidate for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat, leaving a section of leaders wondering about the decision as he was considered low profile and didn’t belong to the hills.

Sujay Ghatak, 43, is a member-mayor-in-council (public works) of the Congress-run SMC.

Ghatak, who is also the Youth Congress’s general secretary in Darjeeling district, said he would try to “put up a tough fight” for the Darjeeling seat “despite my not being a resident of the hills”.

“Since the party has assigned me the responsibility to contest the Darjeeling seat, I shall leave no stone unturned to give a tough fight,” he said.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had chosen the party’s vice-president for Darjeeling district, Dawa Narbula, for the Darjeeling seat. The BJP nominee Jaswant Singh, backed by the Morcha, won the election by a margin of over three lakh votes.

Many in the Congress believe a resident of the hills should have been the candidate to bag more votes. “I wonder how Ghatak, a Siliguri councillor, has been chosen for Darjeeling. It appears the party is conceding its defeat by fielding a low profile Siliguri leader for the Darjeeling seat,” said a senior Congress leader.

The hill voters have traditionally decided the winner of the Darjeeling seat because they poll for one candidate en bloc.

Although areas in the plains have more voters, the voting is fractured.

While the Trinamul Congress has fielded footballer Bhaichung Bhutia for the Darjeeling seat, the BJP has chosen its high-profile leader S.S. Ahluwalia, who is being backed by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

The CPM’s candidate is former MP Ananda Pathak’s son Saman Pathak.

With the announcement of its candidate for Darjeeling, the Congress is yet to announce its nominees for the remaining 24 Lok Sabha seats, including Balurghat.

However, state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury had claimed earlier in the day at the state Congress headquarters that a list of the 25 candidates in Bengal would be announced tonight.

The Congress had announced its candidates for 17 Lok Sabha seats on March 8