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Trinamul leaders oppose entry of Congressmen

Rifat Jawaid in Calcutta

Muslim Trinamul Congress leaders have resented the likely entry on September 7 of several top Congress leaders, including pradesh Congress committee general secretary Sultan Ahmed and Youth Congress president Paresh Pal.

A known Sultan detractor and newly elected member (mayor-in-council) to the Calcutta Municipal Corporation on a Trinamul ticket, Javed Ahmed Khan said, "I will be surprised if party chief Mamata Banerjee clears the entry of Sultan and other leaders. How can we forget that they once left no stone unturned in inflicting indignation on our leader? They had even abused Banerjee publicly. It will be beneath the dignity of any Trinamul leader to even repeat what Sultan said against our leader."

Khan accused Sultan and his corporator brother of hatching a murder plot against him recently. According to him, it was the rapid erosion of the support base among Urdu-speaking Muslims that had prompted Sultan to jump onto the Trinamul bandwagon.

" But even this will not help him a bit. He is now hankering for the Bow bazaar assembly seat. But what he perhaps does not know is that wherever he chooses to contest from, his true colours have been known to all Muslims in Calcutta," Khan added.

Sultan's animosity is known. Both claim to be immensely popular among the Urdu-speaking Muslim electorate of Calcutta. While Khan has built up a virtually unbeatable image in Topsia, Sultan has been finding it increasingly difficult to hold his grip over the Muslim vote bank in Entally.

In fact, Khan attributed his desertion from the Congress party earlier this year to differences with Sultan.

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