Pride over polls

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s son Avijit may face many other challenges during his debut in electoral politics, but the Congress candidate in Nalhati is likely to get the best possible campaign support for the upcoming Assembly polls in West Bengal. Sources in the Congress say party president Sonia Gandhi has agreed to visit his constituency for a public rally. Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, too, may come down for a meeting in the junior Mukherjee’s constituency. Sensing a mood of rebellion in a section of the local Trinamool, Banerjee has already issued strict instructions to her party cadre to ensure Avijit Mukherjee’s victory and added, “It is a question of my prestige.”