Baharampur likely to see direct contest between Trinamool's Yusuf Pathan and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan in Lok Sabha polls

In the upcoming Lok Sabha election, the spotlight falls on Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and former cricketer Yusuf Pathan as they emerge as potential contenders for the Baharampur constituency.

Former cricketer Yusuf Pathan on March 10 was named among the 42 candidates announced by Trinamool Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Pathan will be contesting from Baharampur which is known as the stronghold of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

The Congress has not yet announced its candidate for Baharampur. However, Chowdhury is likely to contest from the seat that he has represented five times in the Lok Sabha since 1999.

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Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had earlier said that her party will fight the Lok Sabha polls alone in West Bengal. The Congress and Trinamool are both part of the INDIA alliance

The Trinamool had blamed Adhir Ranjan for the collapse of alliance talks with Congress. The seat-sharing discussions stopped amid Chowdhury’s continued attacks on Trinamool and Banerjee. According to reports, the Congress had sought around nine seats while Trinamool had offered only two seats. The Trinamool chief was reportedly reluctant to cede the seat to Congress which led to a deadlock in discussions.

Who is Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury?

Chowdhury shot into the political limelight after he won the seat in 1999. The seat had not been won by the Congress since 1951 and was a Revolutionary Socialist Party stronghold. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress veteran Chowdhury had won the Bahrampur seat with a margin of 80,000 votes.

Chowdhury, known to be a staunch critic of CM Banerjee, has been the chief of the West Bengal Congress for a while.

Who is Yusuf Pathan?

The all-rounder was part of India's limited-overs cricket team that won the global titles of 2007 ICC WT20 and 2011 ICC World Cup.

He shot to fame in Indian Premier League (IPL), while playing for Rajasthan Royals, which led to his national call-up. He also represented Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. Pathan announced his retirement from all formats of cricket in 2021. He was known for his hard-hitting style of batting and ability as a spinner.

What does Congress say?

The Congress has maintained its desire to have a "respectable" seat-sharing agreement with the Trinamool in West Bengal.

"The Indian National Congress has always maintained that such an agreement has to be finalised through negotiations and not by unilateral announcement. The Indian National Congress has always wanted the INDIA group to fight the BJP together," said senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh after the Trinamool announced its list.

The Congress finalised its seat-sharing deals with the Samajwadi Party, with Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, and with DMK in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It is also close to clinching the deal with the National Conference in J&K and the MVA in Maharashtra.