When it comes to nominating candidates in Bengal, it’s a family affair in every party which is a major player in the state.

In the bypolls to 10 Assembly seats due on November 10, nearly half of them are expected to go to kin of political leaders.

First in the line is Abu Naser Khan Choudhury, brother of late A B A Gani Khan Chowdhury, who is expected to be the Congress candidate for Sujapur Assembly seat in Malda, which was vacated after Mausam Noor, his niece, was elected MP from Malda.

Interestingly, the two parliamentary seats from the district are in the hands of the Ghani Khan family. Abu Naser retired as a professor from Staffordshire University in England in 1995 and since then, he has been shuttling between Delhi and Malda, when he is not spending the summers in Switzerland. Recently, AICC nominated Mausam Noor for Malda North Lok Sabha seat following problems with Naser’s citizenship.

“People want me in Malda. They want me to represent them from Sujapur. Recently, thousands of them submitted a memorandum to the district Congress pressing for my candidature,” says Naser.

The Trinamool has already announced the name of Dibyendu Adhikary, son of Sisir Adhikary and brother of Suvendu Adhikary, both Trinamool MPs from East Midnapore. Sisir is also the Union Minister of State for Rural Development. Dibyendu has been fielded from Egra, which fell vacant after Suvendu became an MP.

“Dibyendu is not holding any post in the party right now. But we are sure of his win.

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