Abu Naser Khan Chowdhury, brother of late A B Ghani Khan Chowdhury, today wrote to Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi staking his claim to a party ticket to fight the Sujapur Assembly bypoll, for which Hamidur Rehman has been chosen as the official nominee.

Naser Khan claimed he is the right candidate for Sujapur in Malda, which is a Ghani Khan family bastion. “People want me to stand as Congress candidate in Sujapur. I have written to Sonia Gandhi. I also had a talk with Pranab Mukherjee over the candidature issue,” he said.

Khan said the hearing for including his name in the voters’ list in Sujapur would be held soon and he could file his nomination then. “After the inclusion of my name in the voters’ list, I will file my nomination for the election. I have not ruled out standing as an Independent if the Congress does not give me a ticket,” Naser Khan said.

Meanwhile, Rehman said he was willing to allow Naser Khan to fight the election in his place. “Though my name has been announced as the Congress candidate, I would like Naser Khan to file nomination and fight the election. I have already expressed my feelings to senior leaders,” he said.

According to district Congress sources, there is an undercurrent of opposition against Rehman since he was with earlier the CPM. Rehman had fought and lost the 2006 Assembly elections as a CPM candidate against Congress nominee Ruby Noor, who later died. After Ruby Noor’s death, her daughter Mausam Noor got elected from Sujapur. But in the recent Lok Sabha elections, she stood and won from Malda North constituency, following which bypolls were announced for Sujapur Assembly seat.

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