Trinamool discontentment: Ghani Khan’s legacy prompted Mausam Noor’s return to Congress

New Delhi, Jan 3 In the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the Trinamool Congress camp went through weeks of uncertainty amidst speculations over the absence of their Rajya Sabha MP Mausam Benazir Noor, the well-known face of Malda carrying the legacy of Bengal’s legendary Congress leader Abu Barkat Ghani Khan Chaudhury.

There was a sigh of relief when she returned well ahead of the poll scheduled for the two Malda Lok Sabha constituencies.

She explained that while she was in Delhi to attend to some personal work, she had contracted viral fever and was thus delayed. The Trinamool had nominated Prasun Banerjee for Maldaha Uttar Lok Sabha seat and Shahnawaz Ali Raihan in Maldaha Dakshin.

Her absence affected the party when a section, claiming proximity to Noor, expressed disappointment as her name did not feature in either constituency.

But Noor, who had lost from Maldaha Uttar in 2019 to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, had been nominated to the Rajya Sabha within a year by the Trinamool.

Her return in Malda on time to hit the campaign trail and explanation for her absence made leaders and supporters heave a sigh of relief. Though there was calm on the surface, deep down, a discontent was developing, reportedly over reasons similar to those that made her leave the family turf of Congress one such January seven years ago.

Mausam Noor quit Congress in January 2019, feeling sidelined in party leadership roles and joined the Trinamool. She went on to defend the Maldaha Uttar seat she had won in 2014 as a Congress candidate but lost to BJP’s Khagen Murmu.

Dissatisfaction with her role in the Trinamool began, according to a section, since the day she became a Rajya Sabha member. They claim she felt powerless when trying to keep “Ghani Khan’s legacy”; she could not help Malda’s people in their needs.

Incidentally, Trinamool candidates were defeated in both the Maldaha constituencies, with Noor’s cousin Isha Khan Choudhury winning Dakshin (South) for the Congress, and Murmu retaining Uttar (North).

Noor’s decision to resign from the Rajya Sabha is being seen to be in preparation for the upcoming Assembly elections, where sources say she may be nominated for the Congress stronghold of Sujapur constituency.

In a by-election held in 2009 due to the death of the sitting MLA and her mother, Rubi Noor, she contested and won from Sujapur but subsequently resigned to move to Parliament from Maldaha Uttar Lok Sabha constituency.

For over a year now, her family members and state Congress leaders have been trying to persuade her to return, citing the Ghani Khan legacy. Mausam Noor’s return to the Congress is more than just a personal political shift – it marks a revival of the family’s historic legacy in Malda.

Before delimitation and the formation of two Parliamentary constituencies in 2009, Ghani Khan represented Malda (as then known) Lok Sabha constituency eight consecutive times between 1980 and 2006.

Popularly still known as “Barkat-da”, Ghani Khan (1927–2006) was a towering Congress leader who transformed Malda’s political and developmental landscape.

He was also the Union Railway Minister in the 1980s. He is credited with bringing rail connectivity, educational institutions, and infrastructure projects to Malda, which earned him enduring popularity.

His legacy continues to shape the district’s political identity, with his family members inheriting both his influence and responsibility.

After his death, his brother and Isha Khan’s father, Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury, won the Malda by-election – again for the Congress – held in September 2006.

Most of the district’s inhabitants claim that Ghani Khan has been their family’s benefactor during his time, helping them in times good or bad, even getting jobs for those in need.

He was known for his accessibility and grassroots connections, making Congress synonymous with Malda politics for decades.

Mausam Noor’s re-entry is significant because Malda remains one of the few districts in Bengal where the Congress has retained influence despite the rise of the ruling Trinamool and the state’s principal Opposition BJP.

Noor’s move is expected to consolidate the Ghani Khan family’s hold on the district’s minority-dominated electorate.

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