According to Congress's analysis and in Chaudhary's own words, he paid the price for distancing himself from the politics of religion.
“On one side there was division of Hindu votes and on the other side there was consolidation of Muslim votes. You could say I was stuck in the middle, because I made no conscious effort to present myself as either a Hindu or a Muslim,” Choudhary said.
In fact, the results of Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency prove Choudhary's point to some extent.
This time, Trinamool Congress candidate from Baharampur, former cricketer Yusuf Pathan, became the surprise winner by securing 5,24,516 votes.
Choudhary stood second by getting a total of 4,39,494 votes.
Now, while the victory margin was only 85,022 votes, BJP candidate Dr Nirmal Chandra Saha got 3,71,886 votes.
Political observers are of the opinion that Saha made a substantial dent in Chaudhary's predecessor's dedicated Hindu vote bank and that Pathan enjoyed the consolidation of Muslim votes.
They say there is another factor that has made the fight difficult for Chaudhary, and that is that the Congress high command has distanced itself from him from the very beginning.
Neither Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge nor popular Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi came to Bengal even once to campaign for Chaudhary.
The Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister took advantage of this and launched a campaign branding Choudhary a "secret agent of the BJP" in the guise of a "Congress leader".
“On one side there was division of Hindu votes and on the other side there was consolidation of Muslim votes. You could say I was stuck in the middle, because I made no conscious effort to present myself as either a Hindu or a Muslim,” Choudhary said.
In fact, the results of Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency prove Choudhary's point to some extent.
This time, Trinamool Congress candidate from Baharampur, former cricketer Yusuf Pathan, became the surprise winner by securing 5,24,516 votes.
Choudhary stood second by getting a total of 4,39,494 votes.
Now, while the victory margin was only 85,022 votes, BJP candidate Dr Nirmal Chandra Saha got 3,71,886 votes.
Political observers are of the opinion that Saha made a substantial dent in Chaudhary's predecessor's dedicated Hindu vote bank and that Pathan enjoyed the consolidation of Muslim votes.
They say there is another factor that has made the fight difficult for Chaudhary, and that is that the Congress high command has distanced itself from him from the very beginning.
Neither Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge nor popular Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi came to Bengal even once to campaign for Chaudhary.
The Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister took advantage of this and launched a campaign branding Choudhary a "secret agent of the BJP" in the guise of a "Congress leader".
