Fight for a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls has split the family of late A B A Ghani Khan Choudhury — the Congress veteran who died in 2005 after representing the Malda Lok Sabha seat eight times since 1980 — with battle lines drawn between his brother and niece, both of whom want to contest Malda North seat.

After the delimitation, the Malda constituency was split into Malda South and Malda North, from where Ghani’s brother and Malda MP Abu Hashem Khan Choudhury wants to field Abu Naser Khan Choudhury, another of Ghani’s brothers.

Two days ago, Hashem, who is also Malda district Congress president, announced Naser’s candidature from Malda North. But, on Thursday, the Congress declared Mausam Noor as its official candidate. Noor, a Congress MLA, is the daughter of Ghani’s sister, late Rubi Noor.

Soon after the announcement, Hashem, who is contesting on a Congress ticket from Malda South this time, flew into rage and has now threatened to field Naser as an Independent from Malda North.

Naser is a resident of Switzerland and a Swiss national. According to AICC sources, he has failed to produce papers regarding his Indian nationality, which hampered his prospects vis-à-vis Noor, who is also relatively young.

“I have been stabbed in the back. It is not only Noor’s doing. She is not that strong. There are others behind this,” Naser said, adding he had even begun campaigning. “AICC leaders told me long ago to start campaign. But they said a formal announcement would be made later. Now, they are saying Noor is the candidate.”

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