'How to Lose Friends & Alienate People': As Mamata Snaps Ties with Congress in Bengal, Adhir Is Happiest

Murshidabad has an air of rebellion about it. This is the historical place that has been marked by the famous rebellion of Nawab of Bengal Siraj ud-Daulah against the British though he was betrayed and killed. This is also one of the last citadels of the Congress in the state. And Berhampore in Murshidabad district is tied to a man, who is also called “Nawab” and “Robin Hood” by some locals.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the MP from this area, is also the state Congress chief and leads the party in the Lok Sabha. He is one of the few voices in West Bengal to openly rebel against “ally” Mamata Banerjee, chief minister and Trinamool Congress chairperson.

With a large Muslim population in the area, Adhir’s politics is based on “anti-Mamataism”. The shriller he speaks against her, the better his political fortunes. It was Adhir who advised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi 10 years ago to tie up with the Left, much to the chagrin of Mamata Banerjee.

Today, it’s Adhir who is happiest as the TMC chief has snapped ties with the Congress in West Bengal and announced that while she would remain a part of the opposition INDIA bloc, she would fly solo in the state. However, the man who has often got into trouble because of his “gift of gaffe”, has chosen to restrain himself.

Adhir has been controversy’s favourite child, like when he referred to President Droupadi Murmu as “Rashtrapatni”. He has also generated laughs in the Lok Sabha, on several occasions, with even the Prime Minister being amused. But those who have seen Adhir in action In Murshidabad know him as a fighter who minces no words in attacking Mamata Banerjee.

There have been demands from the TMC that the Congress top leadership should remove Adhir as state unit chief and even as the grand old party’s leader of the Lok Sabha. But the Gandhis have firmly backed him. Between Mamata and him, the trust in the fighter Adhir is seemingly unflinching for the family. And with Mamata Banerjee pulling out of the tie-up, Adhir’s warning to the Gandhis and the Congress that she won’t stay till the end is proved true.

This is why the party cannot do without “Dada”. Adhir, once the blue-eyed boy of the late Pranab Mukherjee, is carrying the Congress’s hopes in West Bengal.