Rudrapur: Like him or loathe him, but the political narrative in Sitarganj constituency revolves around Shyam Biswas, a bidi baron who came from West Bengal to the hill state and made a fortune for himself. Apart from his “illegitimate wife”, who is muddying the water for him, Biswas’s business has also become a target of rival’s attack. Biswas’s wife Malti Biswas is contesting on Congress ticket from Sitarganj seat.Binda Biswas, who claims to be the “real” wife of Shyam, is also in the poll fray "for justice and for restoring her lost pride". However, Shyam disowns Binda and says that Malti was his real wife.Both the women are pitted against Saurabh Bahuguna, the son of former chief minister and Sitarganj MLA Vijay Bahuguna.In his public meetings, Saurabh has been accusing Shyam of “financially exploiting” the bidi workers employed in his factory, estimated to be around 5,000. However, Shyam has refuted the charges as baseless.The constituency has 1.19 lakh voters, and over 30 per cent of them are from the Bengali community, a fact which the opposition parties are taking into account while attacking Shyam.Saurabh alleges that the bidi workers are being paid just half of the wages that they get elsewhere.“Shyam Bidi, his brand, pays only Rs 100 per worker as daily wages. While it is Rs 200 in other bidi producing states like West Bengal and Odisha. Moreover, instead of giving them Rs 100 in cash, he gives them part in cash and a half kg detergent pack, product of his another concern, forcibly,” alleged Saurabh.The BJP candidate also got more personal and took on Shyam over “two women in his life”.“I do not know what the law makers are doing. Shyam has two wives. Both Binda, 52 and Malti, 56, have in their respective affidavits submitted at the SDM office, declared themselves wives of Shyam Biswas, with their address as Tagore Colony, Shakti Farm. Binda has declared assets of ?48,690, while Malti has declared assets of Rs 71 lakh,” the BJP candidate said.When contacted, Shyam said that Malti was his "legitimate" wife while Binda was “spreading rumours” about him.However, Binda, talking to TOI, said she was “fighting the election as an independent against Malti, and that it was a battle for justice and for restoring her lost pride.”

Stay updated with all the Dehradun Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.