Congress wants Abhijit to contest seat vacated by Pranab

With the October 10 byelection to the Jangipur Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal vacated by Pranab Mukherjee after he became President coming up, Congressmen were in favour of his son, Abhijit, to contest the seat.

“Large sections of the Congressmen are in favour of the the party high command nominating Abhijit for Jangipur,” WBPCC President Pradip Bhattacherjee told PTI here. This would be communicated to the party high command in Delhi, he said.

Pranab Mukherjee had won the seat in Murshidabad district in 2004 and 2009. Trinamool Congress all-India General Secretary and Railway minister Mukul Roy when asked whether party would support Abhijit in case he was chosen as the candidate by the Congress high command told PTI “We are still in UPA”. “In the case of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections both the parties had worked together. But it is a political decision and we have not discussed it as yet in the party,” he said.

Meanwhile, Left Front chairman Biman Bose told reporters that CPI(M) leader in Murshidabad district Muzzafar Hossain would be the LF-backed party candidate for the seat.