All-South Indian contest in Kharagpur and an arrest that may queer poll pitch

However, as the election tempo soared, the police Wednesday arrested Srinu Naidu, a murder-accused who was wanted in connection with six cases of criminal intimidation, arson, bombing, assault and extortion. The arrest assumes significance as Srinu holds considerable political clout in the area and his wife Puja Naidu is making electoral debut contesting the Kharagpur municipal polls on BJP ticket from Ward 18.

Those in know claimed that Puja is giving a strong fight to sitting councillor, TMC’s Shivaji Rao.

Local TMC leaders claimed that during the 2010 municipal polls, Srinu had worked for Shivaji Rao. Srinu, who was then creating a name in the crime world by trying to “fill the vacuum” created by the arrest of local don Rambabu, another man with South Indian, had played a big role in Shivaji Rao’s win in 2010. The TMC leaders in Kharagpur say Srinu was often seen in the party office. But days before the civic body elections were announced, he switched sides and his wife got a BJP nomination.

He was presented in a court Wednesday, which remanded him in police custody for 10 days. “He is a notorious underworld don in Kharagpur dealing with railways tenders and sale of railways scraps,” said the police officer requesting anonymity.

Congress’ Rabi Shankar Pandey, the sitting chairman of the Kharagpur municipality, said it was better not to remark on “non-political railway mafia”. “He got patronage from the keepers of law all these years and now his masters have arrested him for reasons best known to them,” said Pandey. He, however, pointed out that in Ward 1, “an all South-Indian contest is on”.

Pandey said that more than 20 per cent of the population under Kharagpur municipality has south indian origin. “They have been living here for several generations. They came with Railways postings and gradually became part and parcel of the life here,” he said.

Pradip Patnaik, a BJP leader from West Midnapore said Puja Naidu is a strong candidate. “Srinu’s arrest will not affect her prospects,” he added.