Behrampore: For 70-year-old Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a five-term MP returning to the assembly fray after three decades, poll day began not at a booth but inside a makeshift war room at his Kasimbazar residence, about 5km from Behrampore town.Chowdhury, who represented Behrampore in the Lok Sabha five times between 1999 and 2019, suffered a setback in 2024 when he lost to cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan of Trinamool. His re-entry into state assembly politics comes 30 years after his debut victory from Nabagram in 1996. Alleging a tacit understanding between BJP and TMC to sideline him, Chowdhury said after casting his vote: “I am the main person here. Everyone is trying to stop me. That shows why I am still a threat.”Dressed in a crisp, yellow full-sleeved shirt tucked into black trousers, Chowdhury stepped out of his home at 11am — four hours after polling began — and headed to a neighbourhood in Kantanagar, where allegations had surfaced earlier this week of TMC workers threatening voters.Moving through narrow metalled roads in a convoy of around 20 vehicles, Chowdhury visited a string of booths, including Lipika Memorial Girls’ High School, Union Christian Training College and Krishnanath Collegiate School. At each stop, he spoke to voters, presiding officers and party agents.“Voting has been extremely slow at multiple booths. But that is mostly because of a host of elderly voters who are taking additional time and poorly trained poll personnel. But thanks to the huge deployment of central forces, unscrupulous elements have been kept at bay and voters are casting their votes peacefully,” he said.Midway through his tour, Chowdhury received a call from party workers at Gorabazar Municipal Primary School, who reported a two-hour halt in polling. Chowdhury rushed to the site, spoke to polling and security personnel before calling the DM and state CEO Manoj Agarwal. “I realise it’s a technical difficulty. But I asked officials to ensure the two hours of voting period lost should be compensated and voters standing in this immense heat should be allowed a place under shade to rest,” he said. Chowdhury’s principal rival, TMC’s Naru Gopal Mukherjee, began his day early, casting his vote at Nilimaprabha Deaf and Dumb School before embarking on a similar booth trail, following the same route as Chowdhury’s.“Adhir Chowdhury is not a factor at all. He thrives on media publicity but has no on-ground presence. He will lose and will have to retire from politics after this vote,” Mukherjee said, praising central forces for maintaining peace and highlighting a record 96% turnout in Behrampore.In Muslim-majority Murshidabad district, Behrampore stands out with nearly 70% Hindu voters. A Congress bastion for seven decades, it witnessed a sharp shift in 2021 when Subrata Maitra secured a decisive BJP victory, defeating Mukherjee by nearly 27,000 votes and pushing Congress to third place.Maitra cast his vote at Gorabazar ICI before heading out with a modest three-car entourage. “I touched upon all 150 booths in Behrampore town before I headed to villages. I spoke to voters in person and I am just counting days to be re-elected from this seat,” he said.
