In Lalgola, though the Congress won the Assembly seat, the Panchayat Samity is ruled by the CPM, which did well there in the recent Panchayat elections.

Mukherjee, however, is undeterred and is banking on the developmental work he has carried out in his constituency. “Losing Congress strongholds due to delimitation will not be a factor. I will get votes from people. Our party has got more than 50 per cent votes in the panchayat and I expect I will get their blessings,” said the Congress leader.

His opponent Bhattacharjee, who is also the chairman of Jangipur municipality, agreed the delimitation might give him an edge, but was quick to point out Mukherjee’s stature as a note of caution. “It is true that delimitation has worked in our favour, but we are not depending on it entirely for winning. We have our traditional mass base. We also made good progress in the panchayat elections here and the Congress lost a number of seats. However, it is true we have to fight Mukherjee’s high-profile image,” he said.

Pranab goes online
Union External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today inaugurated his website www. pranabmukherjee.in. where the viewers can have direct interaction with him. There is also a video gallery and interviews of the minister along with his personal profile and details of his political career. Asked if mother of Kasab, the lone terrorist captured during the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, is coming to India, he said: “Officially, there is no information regarding any relative from Pakistan coming here.”