Kolkata, Sep 22 (PTI) The October 6 Rejinagar assembly bypoll in West Bengal took another dramatic turn with Left Front constituent RSP withdrawing its candidate from the contest after the Election Commission allegedly denied it the use of its traditional ‘spade and shovel’ symbol.
Senior RSP leader Manoj Bandopadhyay said the party was informed after the scrutiny of nominations on Saturday that it could not use the symbol it had traditionally contested elections with and would instead have to fight on the ‘bucket’ symbol.
“What else is the way out? The EC has not given us our traditional symbol, citing a minor technical flaw. So we have decided to withdraw our candidate. The name of our candidate may be there on the EVM, but we are not fighting this bypoll,” he said on Monday.
The development prompted the party to withdraw its candidate Bikash Chandra Mishra, who had already begun campaigning, he said.
RSP state secretary Tapan Hore accused the authorities of “conspiracy” in the allotment of symbols and alleged bias on the part of the police and administration.
He said the party was consulting lawyers and would consider moving court over the issue.
For the RSP, the dispute over the symbol carries significance beyond its electoral utility, with the party maintaining that the ‘spade and shovel’ has been closely associated with its political struggles and organisational history.
The withdrawal also brings to the surface an old fault-line within the Left Front: the contest over Rejinagar had been contentious from the beginning, with the RSP claiming the seat while the CPI(M), the Front’s dominant constituent, deciding to field its own candidate.
The RSP had subsequently put up Mishra as a rebel candidate, turning what was already a difficult contest for the opposition into a fight between two Left parties.
With the RSP now out, the CPI(M) is left as the only Left Front party formally contesting the seat.
Whether the RSP will campaign for the CPI(M) candidate or transfer its support to the party’s traditional Left ally remains unclear.
The episode is particularly significant because Rejinagar has emerged as one of the most fragmented electoral theatres in the October 6 bypolls, with rival factions of the Trinamool Congress, the BJP, CPI(M), Congress and AJUP seeking to establish their political space.
The latest withdrawal comes days after another candidate from the Mamata Banerjee camp reversed his decision to leave the contest.
Mamata Banerjee’s Rejinagar nominee Rabiul Alam Chowdhury had announced his withdrawal on Saturday, citing difficulties faced by party workers and the challenge of campaigning with the newly allotted symbol. Within hours, however, he retracted the decision after speaking to Banerjee and said he would remain in the fray.
That followed an equally dramatic sequence in Nandigram, where Banerjee’s candidate Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew her candidature after meeting Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Banerjee subsequently extended support to Congress nominee Milan Pradhan, who was arrested hours later in connection with old cases dating back to the 2007 Nandigram agitation.
In Rejinagar, the battle has also been complicated by the withdrawal from campaigning of Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) chief Humayun Kabir and his son Golam Nabi Azad, the party’s candidate. Kabir has alleged hostility and selective targeting by the administration, while the party has approached the Election Commission with its concerns.
The RSP’s exit therefore leaves a contest in which the principal opposition space is itself divided several ways.
The BJP has fielded Sakharav Sarkar, while the Mamata Banerjee camp is represented by Rabiul Alam Chowdhury under its newly allotted identity and symbol.
The rival Trinamool faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee is also in the fray, while the Congress and CPI(M) have their own candidates. PTI PNT NN ACD
(PTI News)
