Bengal poll results a mixed bag for turncoats

Kolkata, May 19: They were awarded by their new parties with a poll ticket for switching allegiance. However, for political turncoats, the West Bengal assembly polls turned out to be a mixed bag as some emerged victorious while others tasted crushing defeats. Among the prominent political turncoats to win the polls was Marxist-turned-Trimool Congress nominee Abdur Razzak Mollah who got the better of Communist Party of India-Marxist’s Abdur Rasid Gazi by over 18,000 votes, to become a legislator for the tenth time in a row. Razzak, a former state minister in the Left Front cabinet, was expelled by the CPI-M in 2014 for “anti-party activities”. Having remained undefeated from South 24 Pargas’ Canning East since 1977, Razzak, who joined the Trimool earlier in the year, continued his winning streak, this time from Bhangore, also in the district. Another top defector to Trimool emerging victorious is Udayan Guha. Son of late Forward Bloc heavyweight Kamal Guha, he defeated his former party colleague Akshay Thakur to retain Dinhata in Cooch Behar district, which he had won in 2011 as a Forward Bloc nominee. However, for former Congress lawmaker Abu sar Khan Choudhury, defecting to Trimool turned out to be unlucky as he failed to retain Sujapur. Abu sar, the younger brother of late Congress stalwart A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhury, had won Sujapur in Malda as a Congress nominee in 2011. (IANS)