Lahiri dropped, BJP picks new face for Alipurduar

Kolkata: The BJP brass is likely to announce an alternative seat for former chief economic advisor Ashok Lahiri, who was dropped from the Alipurduar seat on Thursday. The party is also looking for two new candidates to contest from the Chowringhee and Cossipore-Belgachhia constituencies.
Local BJP supporters, who wanted a son of the soil to contest from Alipurduar, were unhappy after Lahiri’s nomination was announced.BJP workers, led by district president Ganga Prasad Sharma, started protesting in front of the Alipurduar party office. Late on Thursday, Suman Kanjilal was nominated for from the seat. Alipurduar resident Kanjilal, a practising lawyer, has been with the party for several years.
While state leaders refused to comment, sources said Lahiri’s name was dropped for a “technical reason”. Lahiri had been a voter in Gurgaon and was yet to get his name transferred to Alipurduar. “There was a technical reason for which this happened. It cannot be attributed to any other reason like resistance by a section of workers. Lahiri will contest from another constituency,” said a Bengal BJP leader.
Lahiri did not want to comment, saying: “It is better you talk to BJP leaders regarding this.”
BJP is deciding on candidates for Chowringhee and Cossipore-Belgachhia after both Shikha Mitra Chowdhury and Tarun Saha declined to contest. A senior Bengal leader said Union home minister Amit Shah has asked for a report on the incident.
“There is no scope for reconsideration. On the very first day, I made it clear I am not contesting for BJP,” Mitra Chowdhury said. According to sources, she made this clear to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari a day after he visited their house.
On Thursday night, she received a call from Congress president Sonia Gandhi. “She told my mother she was proud of her decision. She has enquired about her health as well,” said son Rohan. “She has sent a letter to Soniaji and she is looking into it,” he added.
TMC leader Saha also received a call from former mayor Firhad Hakim and former deputy mayor Atin Ghosh. “I do not want to leave the party. So, there is no question of contesting on any other ticket,” Saha said.
Meanwhile, dissent continued in Malda as workers refused to accept candidates and ransacked the party office. The BJP has nominated Gopal Saha at Malda, Matiur Rahman at Harishchandrapur and Gour Mandal at Manikchak. “The dissent was minor, I hope it will be resolved soon,” Malda BJP leader Ajoy Ganguly said.