Behrampore, the Murshidabad district HQ, is like no other town in Bengal. It stands out for cleanliness, orderliness, civic development and low crime rate. But it wasn't like this when the Left was presiding over affairs a decade ago. To say it has metamorphosed in the last decade, under the Congress-run municipality, would be to still underplay the effort. Lal Dighi, a large lake in the town's centre, symbolises the turnaround. Today, it sports fountains, manicured lawns, gardens. And this is true for the entire district—it has witnessed unprecedented development.
The man behind this is Behrampore MP and Congress strongman Adhir Choudhury. He almost single-handed built the Congress organisation in the district. "People want development and when they see a party delivering, they'll support that party," Choudhury told Outlook. He is not too distressed with the fact that the Left wrested the zilla parishad from the Congress by a wafer-thin margin. "There was massive rigging and the administration acted as an adjunct of the CPI(M)," he alleges. Wait till the LS polls—that's his wager.
Red Rag Adrift 
Fiction In Times of Jehad 
