Five-time MP bowled out by ex-all rounder

Congress staunch loyalist Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury suffered an unprecedented defeat despite being an five-time MP.

His long experience at the crease since 1999 in Baharampur failed to withstand the attack by former all-rounder, Yusuf Pathan, who made his electoral debut in 2024.

Despite the Congress performing well in other places, Chowdhury’s defeat will be felt keenly by the party for two main reasons — one because his is one of the two seats the Congress won in West Bengal in 2019 and the other because, he was the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha.

Significantly, Chowdhury remained a staunch protector of the Congress’ interests in West Bengal, even when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is a part of the INDIA bloc.

He continued to criticize Mamata Banerjee even when Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge snubbed him and maintained that he would continue to do so because he wanted to keep the Congress relevant.

He said that he cannot stop from keeping the Congress relevant as he was a dedicated lieutenant of the party.

However, Chowdhury lost to Yusuf Pathan with a huge margin of over 85,000 votes but said he had done his best and wished Pathan the very best.

Reacting on Adhir’s defeat, Mamata Banerjee said that people do not tolerate such arrogance for long. “He wasn’t a leader of the Congress but a man from the BJP,” she said.

Pathan said that Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury would continue to get his respect as a senior politician.