Bengal poll results a mixed bag for turncoats

They were awarded by their new parties with a poll ticket for switching allegiance. However, for political turncoats, the West Bengal assembly polls turned out to be a mixed bag as some emerged victorious while others tasted crushing defeats.

Among the prominent political turncoats to win the polls was Marxist-turned-Trinamool Congress nominee Abdur Razzak Mollah who got the better of Communist Party of India-Marxist's Abdur Rasid Gazi by over 18,000 votes, to become a legislator for the tenth time in a row.

Razzak, a former state minister in the Left Front cabinet, was expelled by the CPI-M in 2014 for "anti-party activities".

Having remained undefeated from South 24 Parganas' Canning East since 1977, Razzak, who joined the Trinamool earlier in the year, continued his winning streak, this time from Bhangore, also in the district.

Another top defector to Trinamool emerging victorious is Udayan Guha.

Son of late Forward Bloc heavyweight Kamal Guha, he defeated his former party colleague Akshay Thakur to retain Dinhata in Cooch Behar district, which he had won in 2011 as a Forward Bloc nominee.

However, for former Congress lawmaker Abu Nasar Khan Choudhury, defecting to Trinamool turned out to be unlucky as he failed to retain Sujapur.

Abu Nasar, the younger brother of late Congress stalwart A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhury, had won Sujapur in Malda as a Congress nominee in 2011.

Ironically, he lost to Congress nominee and his nephew Isha Khan Choudhury with a margin in excess of 47,000 votes.

Trinamool nominee Asit Mal suffered a similar fate, failing to hold on Hansan in Birbhum district, which he had won in 2011 as a Congress nominee.

He went down to Congress' Miltan Rasid by over 16,000 votes.

Yet another Congress defector to Trinamool who suffered defeat was Sushil Chandra Roy.

One of the several Congress lawmakers to switch to Trinamool, Roy lost Gazole in Malda to CPI-M's Dipali Biswas by over 20,000 votes.

Another turncoat to join Trinamool and taste defeat was Nirbed Roy.

A familiar face in TV debates, the articulate Roy, as a Congress leader, was known for tearing apart the Trinamool and particularly its supremo Banerjee.

In a keenly contested battle, Roy who joined the Trinamool in 2015, lost to Communist Party of India's Ashok Kumar Dinda by mere 520 votes in Tamluk.

Incidentally, Roy had won the seat in East Midnapore district in 2001 as a Trinamool nominee before he subsequently joined the Congress.

Bucking the trend, Trinamool's Mohammad Golam Rabbani and Rabindranath Chatterjee triumphed from Goalpokhar in North Dinajpur district and Katwa in Burdwan district respectively. The duo had won the respective seats in 2011 representing the Congress.

Trinamool candidates Chaya Dolai and Bulu Chik Baraik retained Chandrakona and Mal continuities respectively which they won five years back representing the Communist Party of India-Marxist.

Exacting revenge for the Marxists, Rafikul Islam Mondal defeated his former party colleague-turned Trinamool candidate A.T.M Abdullah to wrest Basirhat North.

The Congress too scored a similar revenge over the Trinamool.

Dulal Chandra Bar, who had won from Bagdah in 2006 representing Trinamool, won the seat this time representing the Congress by humbling state minister Upen Biswas.

--IANS

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