BALURGHAT, Dec. 28 -- The announcement of candidates by the newly floated Janata Unnayan Party (JUP) for the upcoming Assembly elections has triggered a major political controversy in South Dinajpur's Harirampur Assembly constituency.

The controversy revolves around Ahidur Rahman, who has been declared the party's candidate from the seat currently represented by state Consumer Affairs minister Biplab Mitra.

Soon after the list of candidates was announced by JUP founder and former Trinamool Congress leader Humayun Kabir, allegations began circulating widely on social media questioning the identity of Rahman, a resident of the Dital area under

Banshihari block.

Several purported documents went viral, raising serious concerns about how a single individual could possess multiple identity documents linked to both India and Bangladesh under different names.

According to social media claims, Rahman is alleged to have two Bangladeshi voter identity cards mentioning different years of birth-1972 and 1975. It is further claimed that his name appears as Faruk Khan in some documents and as Kaushik Chakraborty in others. Additionally, allegations suggest that he holds Indian identity documents as a resident of the Elahabad area in Banshihari block of South Dinajpur district.

The circulation of these documents on social media fuelled widespread political debate and speculation across the district.

Dismissing the allegations, Rahman strongly denied any wrongdoing. "I am an Indian citizen by birth and my family has been living in India for generations," he said.

Explaining the alleged cross-border links, he added: "Before the border fencing came up, many people used to travel to Bangladesh for business and I also went there for business-related purposes during that time."

Reacting to the issue, Banshihari block Trinamool Congress president Parthapratim Majumdar said: "We do not believe in personal attacks, but serious questions have arisen about this candidate's background, which must be clarified."

Taking a sharper stance, district Trinamool Congress president Subhas Bhawal said: "Such candidates are being fielded to split votes at the behest of the BJP, but the people will give a fitting reply."

State minister Biplab Mitra also reacted, saying: "There is no legal bar on any Indian contesting elections, but ultimately it is the people who will decide who is capable

of serving them."

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.