Yusuf Pathan's 'absence' amid Murshidabad violence draws fire from Opposition and TMC alike: 'Sending wrong message to people'

Over the past few days, the TMC has held several peace meetings in the riot-affected areas of Murshidabad, which have been seen its two other district MPs – Murshidabad MP Abu Taher Khan and Jangipur MP Khalilur Rehman – besides the local party MLAs in attendance.

"He (Yusuf Pathan) is an outsider and is new to politics. He chose to stay away so far. But this gives a wrong message to the people. Our MPs, MLAs and even booth workers are on the ground, reaching out to people," Murshidabad MP Abu Taher Khan told The Indian Express, pointing out that he travelled 100 km to attend a peace meeting in Samserganj which also saw the presence of MP Khalilur Rehman and local party MLAs.

"But he (Yusuf Pathan) was absent. One cannot say it's not my area and it's not my people and that’s why I won’t go," Taher added.

TMC MLA from Bharatpur Humayun Kabir was also critical of Pathan and pointed out that the MP's conduct suggested a disconnect from people and threatened to lobby the party against giving him a ticket the next time.

"It has almost been a year since Yusuf Pathan became an MP. If he doesn’t change his behaviour and try to reach out to the people, I will approach our party top brass against him. I would try to ensure that next time he doesn’t get a party ticket. He is not a part of the development initiatives of Mamata Banerjee and he is also not standing by the people in the time of such a crisis," he told IE.

"He is a renowned cricketer who lives in Gujarat. He defeated (Congress leader) Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in the Lok Sabha elections by peoples’ votes. This gentleman is now playing games with voters. He is behaving as per his whims and fancies," Kabir added.

The BJP, the principal Opposition party in the state Assembly, has also sought to corner the TMC and Pathan over his absence from the violence-hit district.

"The Lok Sabha poll was like an IPL event for Pathan. He won the election and the match is over. Why should he come to his constituency now? We knew this would happen. He never intended to stay here. People who voted for him should ask questions and they are questioning him," BJP's Baharampur unit chief Moloy Mahajan said.

Despite the discontent within party ranks over Pathan's absence, TMC has officially defended Pathan and questioned if he is expected to visit anywhere there is an incident. "The incident happened outside Baharampur. If anything happens anywhere, is Pathan supposed to go there? The Opposition is spreading this against him. We are all working in our areas, holding booth workers’ meetings. We want our workers to reach out to the people and tell them that the TMC is opposed to the Wakf Amendment Act and that we voted against it in Parliament," TMC's Murshidabad district president Apurba Sarkar said.

Notably, the 42-year-old cricketer-turned-politician had come under attack earlier over a social media post on April 12 that showed him sipping tea with the caption: "Easy afternoons, good chai and calm surroundings. Just soaking in the moment".

Pathan posted the pictures on Instagram a day after protests against the Waqf Amendment Act turned violent in various areas in Murshidabad including Samserganj, Dhulian and Suti – which fall under the Jangipur parliamentary constituency.