Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury projected as Baharampur candidate ahead of list, Congress flags breach
Telegraph | 26 March 2026
Even before the Congress announced its candidates for the Assembly elections in Bengal, senior party leader and former state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury began projecting himself as the party’s nominee from the Baharampur Assembly seat with his supporters writing graffiti across the town.
Walls from one end of Behrampore town to the other have been painted by Chowdhury's close aides, appealing to voters to support him as the Congress candidate and ensure his victory by a huge margin.
The move, however, has not gone down well with a section of the party leadership, which termed such premature campaigning a violation of organisational discipline. Sources said that the Congress was likely to announce its list of candidates on March 27.
A party insider in Behrampore said: “Before the party announces candidature, no one can campaign to seek votes for himself. Such activities are against the party constitution.”
The development has once again brought to the fore the reported lack of coordination between the current state Congress leadership and Chowdhury, who is now a member of the Congress Working Committee.
Party insiders pointed out that since Subhankar Sarkar assumed charge as the Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief nearly a year-and-a-half ago, he has not visited Behrampore even once.
Political observers believe Chowdhury’s intent to contest from the Baharampur Assembly segment is clear, and the wall writings may be an attempt by his supporters to build pressure on the leadership ahead of the finalisation of the list.
Many believe that fears of Chowdhury being denied a ticket prompted workers to begin campaigning for him in advance.
Chowdhury himself chose to distance himself from the development. He said: “I do not know where the workers are doing what. I am a party man. If the party nominates me, I will be a candidate for the Baharampur Assembly seat. However, I am overwhelmed the way people are approaching me to be a candidate. Such love from the people is like a Nobel Prize for me.”
District Congress president and former MLA Manoj Chakraborty said: “We have started campaigning respecting the wishes of people".
On being asked whether such an exercise could be termed “anti-party”, he said: “The party workers want him, so we have started campaigning in advance to show respect to the workers and supporters. This campaign is being conducted in the interest of the party.”
However, there are dissenting voices within the party. Pradesh Congress Working Committee member Shiladitya Halder said: “The AICC will announce candidates for 294 seats in the state very soon. Writing someone's name on the wall as a candidate before the AICC’s announcement is against the constitution of the Congress. If someone is doing this, it is not right.”
State Congress spokesperson Hasanuzzaman Bappa struck a cautious note, saying: “We have come to know through social media that Adhir Chowdhury’s name is being written on walls as a Congress candidate for the Baharampur Assembly seat. He is a member of the Congress Working Committee and a former PCC president. He can't endorse such an act. Workers may have done this out of enthusiasm. However, if such an incident had happened in any other Assembly with any other aspirant, action could have been taken.”
Local party workers made no attempt to hide their role in the campaign.
Congress worker Sunil Mandal from Behrampore town said: “We wrote Adhir Chowdhury’s name on the walls. It is known that he will be a candidate. That is why we have started writing Dada’s name on the walls. All the other parties have announced their candidates. How long should we wait?”