The Congress on Monday decided to put its candidature for the Ghatal Lok Sabha seat on hold after many vehemently objected to nominee Papiya Chakraborty announced on Sunday.
Papiya had been a BJP leader till recently.
This apart, the Left Front had been angry with the Congress, its INDIA partner, for fielding a nominee in Ghatal where the CPI had last Friday announced its candidate.
“The decision to field a candidate from Ghatal is being put on hold, for now,” said the All-India Congress Committee (AICC)'s Bengal observer Ghulam Ahmad Mir.
With this, the Congress is officially in the fray for 11 of Bengal's 42 seats as of now.
“Seat-sharing is being achieved through negotiations, and more discussions are necessary for Ghatal,” Mir added, not long after dozens of Congress leaders and workers from the grassroots of Ghatal constituency protested at Bidhan Bhavan against Papiya's selection.
Papiya apart, two more candidates were announced by the Congress on Sunday — Pradip Biswas from Bongaon and Azahar Mollik from Uluberia.
On Friday, Left Front chairperson Biman Bose named CPI’s Tapan Ganguly for the Ghatal seat.
Sources said Mir heard out various sections of the party and noted numerous other grievances that were aired, promising to report them in detail to the high command. According to the sources, the grievances ranged from why the Congress was in a seat-sharing agreement with the Left to why it wasn’t in one with Trinamul. Many also spoke against the leadership of state unit chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
The Congress decision to field Anju Begum for the Assembly bypoll in Bhagabangola has also run into rough weather. The CPM’s Murshidabad district leadership has conveyed its displeasure to Alimuddin Street.
Chowdhury, whose militant resistance to any pact with Mamata Banerjee played a major role in her pulling the plug on INDIA in Bengal, claimed he had no role in such decisions.