Chowdhury alleges TMC fielded Yusuf Pathan to polarise votes

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accuses TMC of polarisation over Yusuf Pathan's Baharampur candidature. This follows speculation, denied by Pathan and Sourav Ganguly, that he would resign for a Mamata Banerjee by-election.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday launched a fresh attack on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) over the candidature of TMC MP Yusuf Pathan, alleging that the party had resorted to polarisation politics during the Assembly elections in West Bengal.

Speaking to ANI here, Chowdhury claimed that Pathan was fielded by the TMC with the sole objective of defeating him in the Baharampur constituency. "They were deployed after spending crores of rupees to defeat me and do politics of polarisation. She herself went there and made this person the candidate and started campaigning, appealing to vote for the Muslim candidate... You have been voting for Hindus for so many years. This time, vote for him," Chowdhury alleged.

Resignation Rumours and Denials

The remarks come amid speculation surrounding Pathan's future as the MP from Baharampur following reports that TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee could contest a by-election from the seat. However, Pathan on June 6 categorically dismissed reports claiming that Banerjee had asked him to resign from his Lok Sabha seat to facilitate her candidature in a bypoll.

In a video statement shared on social media, Pathan said the reports were "completely false" and clarified that neither Banerjee nor any official party leader had ever discussed such a proposal with him. "For some time now, news has been going viral that Mamata Banerjee asked me to resign from my MP post from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat so that she can contest the Lok Sabha election from there. Mamata Banerjee has never told me this," Pathan said.

The controversy also drew a response from former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, who denied media reports suggesting that he had approached Pathan on Banerjee's behalf regarding a possible resignation.

In a statement, Ganguly said he had neither been requested by Banerjee to convey any message nor contacted Pathan with such a proposal. He termed the allegations "untrue" and urged media organisations to verify facts before publishing reports.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)