FORWARD BLOC

Forward Bloc confident with new candidate

COOCH BEHAR, March 4: The Forward Bloc started it's electioneering in Cooch Behar district. Today, in the district secretariat meeting the party's poll strategy has been finalised.

The Forward Bloc has replaced the sitting MP Mr Hiten Barman with Mr Nripendra Nath Roy. The reason behind removal of Mr Barman was not disclosed. District secretary of the party, Mr Udayan Guha said they had entrusted the state secretary Mr Ashok Ghosh to select the candidate and the state party selected Mr Roy as the candidate in Cooch Behar seat. There is no discontent inside the party about nomination of Mr Roy, he claimed.

Left Front sources said it was upto the concerned constituent party to nominate their candidate and Left Front would extend all support to the nominated candidate.

It was noticed that Mr Hiten Barman (the sitting MP), Mr Akshoy Thakur (Cooch Behar West MLA), Mr Paresh Adhikary (food minister) and a senior leader Mr Mihir Roy were not present at the secretariat meeting today without assigning any reason.

Replying a question, Mr Guha said they expect a better result this time than the previous election. Dinhata is strong base of Forward Bloc but no one was fielded for the Lok Sabha seat from Dinhata sub-division since 1952. The selection of Mr Roy, who is a resident of Kayeterbari village under Sitai block in Dinhata, may strengthen the organisation in Dinhata, the FB district secretary hoped.

When asked about the prospect of the probable candidate of Trinamul Congress, Mr Arghya Roy Pradhan, Mr Guha said it would not exert any influence on the voters in this district. His father, the former MP Mr Amar Roy Pradhan won eight times consecutively as a FB candidate but in the previous election the official FB candidate defeated him. The same thing is going to happen again if his son stands as the Trinamul Congress candidate here, Mr Guha believes.

The newly selected FB candidate Mr Nripendra Nath Roy (49) did his BA from Dinhata College in 1981. He acted as the sahakari-sabhadhipati of Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad during 1998-2001 term. In 2001 he won from Sitai Assembly constituency but in 2006 he lost the seat to a Congress candidate. He is the district secretariat member of the party since 1990. In 2007, after demise of legendary FB leader Kamal Guha he became the secretary of the Forward Bloc's Dinhata zonal committee. Mr Roy is also the president of district unit of Agagami Kisan Sabha.