A see-saw battle on cards in Rajabala

Rajabala, Feb 11: Confident of a win from Rajabala seat on Trinamool Congress (TMC) ticket, Mizanur Rehman Kazi made a poll pitch promising employment for people of the constituency once he is elected. He alleged that the last five years were difficult for the people of the state as no development took place to improve the condition of lives of people.
In 2018, Azad Zaman won the seat on a Congress ticket before he died of a heart attack. The by-election to the seat saw NPP’s Abdus Saleh emerge victorious defeating Zaman’s wife.
This time, there is a three-way battle for the seat.
Both Saleh and UDP’s Ashahel D Shira look strong contenders along with Kazi. The fate of winning candidates could be decided with slim margins in the see-saw battle.
A meeting held yesterday at New Bhaitbari saw a huge crowd coming to listen to Kazi, who took the dais along with Phulbari TMC contestant, SG Esmatur Mominin.
“I have covered almost 90 per cent of the area, including the plains and the hills. We are vigorously campaigning and I have been getting positive responses from people during all my visits. I believe we will get the people’s mandate this time,” said Kazi.
He added that there is anger against the NPP candidate. Saleh had made tall promises during his by-election campaign but failed to deliver the goods.
“We are lagging behind everywhere — be it health, road infrastructure and employment. Nothing is done to improve the condition of the lives of people. Just to win the election, the present MLA made tall promises but he didn’t fulfil them. Naturally, people are angry and have deserted him,” the TMC leader said.
Sharing his vision for the constituency, Kazi said he wants to create employment for the youths of the area.
“We have lots of educated unemployed people and we will look to provide them employment whether through government jobs or self-employment. Further, the health sector also needs a huge boost in my constituency. Further, farmers’ needs have to be looked into as we live in an agrarian area,” he added.
On the chances of his party’s poll prospects, Kazi sounded optimistic.
He said there is an indication that the TMC would get between 16-18 seats in Garo Hills.