Will defeat Abhishek Banerjee in 2024, says ISF’s Nawsad Siddique

Indian Secular Front (ISF) leader Nawsad Siddique, Bengal’s only Muslim opposition MLA, announced on Monday that in 2024 he will contest the high-profile Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat in South 24 Parganas district and defeat two-time winner Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

“I want to contest from Diamond Harbour. I will defeat Abhishek Banerjee with the support of local people and send him home as a former MP,” Siddique told the media, triggering speculations on polarisation of Muslim votes against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) that Bengal has witnessed in some regions in the recent assembly and panchayat elections.

In 2021, Siddique wrested the Bhangar assembly seat in South 24 Parganas district from the TMC, marking a break in the ruling party’s absolute control over the constituency where Muslims comprise 67% of the population.

Bhangar is not part of the Diamond Harbour segment, TMC leaders pointed out, brushing aside Siddique’s claim.

“Even ants long to fly. Siddique is free to contest but the sequence of events indicates that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is behind this,” TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said.

In South 24 Pargans district, Muslims represented 35.57% of the population during the 2011 census and the number has increased substantially in 12 years, local politicians said.

Siddique is a member of the family which is the custodian of Hooghly district’s Furfura Sharif shrine built around the mausoleum of Pir Abu Bakr Siddiqui. It draws millions during the Urs festival and the annual fair dedicated to the Pir.

“I am not part of the INDIA alliance of the opposition parties,” Siddiqui also said on Monday.

Earlier on November 4, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the assembly, declared that he would defeat Abhishek Banerjee by fielding a candidate in Diamond Harbour.

“I will defeat the nephew. If required, I will make someone stand against him at Diamond Harbour,” Adhikari said at a BJP event without naming Banerjee.

When asked about Siddique’s announcement, Adhikari said on Monday that the BJP will retain the Diamond Harbour seat.

“Let him contest. I said the seat will go to the BJP,” Adhikari said.

With Siddique as its sole legislator, the ISF is the only other opposition party in the Bengal assembly where the BJP has 75 MLAs. The ISF contested the 2021 assembly polls as an ally of the Left and the Congress, but the latter could not win a single seat for the first time since Independence.

Referring to Abhishek Banerjee as “khokababu” (kid), Bengal Congress president and Lok Sabha member from Murshidabad, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: “If Siddique contests, then khokababu will have a tough time.”

Murshidabad, the district with Bengal’s highest Muslim population of 66.28%, saw the TMC getting defeated in the Sagardighi bypoll held in February this year. Bayron Biswas, the Left-backed Congress candidate, secured 47.35% votes while the TMC’s share dropped to 34.94%. BJP came third with only 13.94 % votes.

This was seen by TMC leaders as a sign of erosion in their minority vote bank, something witnessed in Bhangar as well in 2021.

Byron Biswas joined the TMC in the presence of Abhishek Banerjee on May 29, weeks after Mamata Banerjee ordered drastic changes in the party’s minority cell and reshuffle in district organisations.

Denying any connection with BJP, Siddique accused TMC of helping the saffron camp in elections across India.

“Who helped the BJP win state polls in Goa, Meghalaya and Assam by contesting those elections and splitting opposition votes?” Siddique, who was arrested by the Kolkata police in January, said.

In an unprecedented development, the MLA was in police and judicial custody for 39 days after being arrested in Kolkata and charged under non-bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 307 (attempt to murder), for a clash his supporters had with the police after they were stopped from holding a rally.

Siddique was granted bail by a court on March 2, the day the Sagardighi bypoll results were announced.