Chowdhury Accuses TMC of Religious Polarization in Baharampur

Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has leveled sharp accusations against the Trinamool Congress, claiming the party deployed former cricketer Yusuf Pathan as a candidate specifically to leverage religious divisions. According to Chowdhury, the TMC’s strategy in the Baharampur constituency relied on calculated polarization to secure his defeat.

Editorial·June 9, 2026·reads: 3,376

Chowdhury Accuses TMC of Religious Polarization in Baharampur

Chowdhury asserted that the TMC directed significant resources toward this objective, with direct oversight from the party’s leadership. He maintains that the selection of Pathan was not a conventional political move but a targeted effort to sway voters through identity-based appeals rather than policy debate.

The political friction deepened as rumors swirled regarding Pathan’s future. Reports had suggested that TMC chief Mamata Banerjee requested the MP’s resignation to open the seat for her own potential candidacy in a by-election. Pathan rejected these claims, and former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly publicly dismissed suggestions that he acted as a mediator for such a request from Banerjee.