Trinamool Congress’ Bally candidate Sultan Singh is on a high and is so sure of a victory in a CPI(M) citadel that he is ready to pass judgment on a seven-year old case that shocked the state.
In October 2004, the Howrah police had fished out the body of doctor Sushil Paul from the Hooghly. The probe was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) who later arrested CPI(M) Bally leader and zonal committee member Biswajyoti Bose along with others.
Speaking to HT, Singh said, “Biswajyoti Bose has been made a scapegoat. The killer has been spared as the murder had been masterminded by CPI(M) Bally MLA Kanika Ganguly.” Singh then clammed up as he remembered the case is sub judice and Bose is in jail.
The CPI(M) slammed Singh’s charge and Ganguly said she is innocent. Talking to HT, the Bally MLA said, “Singh’s leader (Mamata Banerjee) is a liar. He is no better.”
The CPI(M) is standing by its MLA. “If Singh is so sure, why is he not moving court with evidence. It is nothing but an attempt to create infighting among supporters. The Trinamool candidate is trying to take advantage of a murder that made news,” said CPI(M) Howrah district secretary Biplab Mazumder.
The constituency is a stronghold of the CPI(M). In the last parliamentary election, the CPI(M) bagged 61.16% of the votes. Ganguly is a three-time MLA and Singh knows he is on a turning wicket and is touting his anti-Marxist credentials.
{{/usCountry}}The constituency is a stronghold of the CPI(M). In the last parliamentary election, the CPI(M) bagged 61.16% of the votes. Ganguly is a three-time MLA and Singh knows he is on a turning wicket and is touting his anti-Marxist credentials.
{{/usCountry}}Singh, who was the Howrah top cop from 1982 to 1985, said, “If I was a CPI(M) sympathiser, then Congress candidate Priya Ranjan Das Munshi would not have won the 1984 Lok Sabha polls from Howrah.”
Singh had earlier said that he had worked closely with the Left Front government. “I was liked by former chief minister Jyoti Basu. However, after working with the government I have understood that it cannot function neutrally because it is guided and dominated by the CPI(M),” the former IPS officer said.
Singh also had a word of praise for his current boss Mamata Banerjee. “Here in Trinamool Congress we can speak our mind,” Singh said. The Trinamool candidate blames the CPI(M) for the Bally Co-operative Bank scam and the lack of development. “They have destroyed the co-operative bank in Bally and nothing has been to improve infrastructure. I will ask locals to cast their votes without any fear so that the Marxists can be uprooted from Bally,” he said.
Predictably, CPI(M) differs and touts the rectification campaign, which has weeded out undesirables. “We have taken actions against the corrupt,” Mazumder said.