Kolkata:

The political battleground of West Bengal looks all set for yet another high-octane face-off. Elections will be held in seven phases between April 19 and June 1.

The following are the 12 key parliamentary seats of the state to watch out for.

Kolkata Dakshin: Considered a prestige seat for the TMC for the legacy that party supremo Mamata Banerjee holds, the cosmopolitan seat of South Kolkata continues to remain a Trinamool bastion with all seven Assembly seats in the party kitty. Mamata Banerjee remained an unbroken six-term MP from this seat from 1991 to 2011, till she snatched state power from the Left Front.

Previous attempts by the BJP to dent Mamata Banerjee’s popularity in the region came to a naught even after the TMC chief quit contesting the parliamentary polls. While TMC has repeated candidate Mala Roy, the sitting MP from the seat, the BJP is yet to name her challenger.

Kolkata Uttar: Sudip Bandyopadhyay, TMC’s parliamentary party leader in the Lok Sabha, is the sitting MP of this urban constituency of North Kolkata and has been re-nominated by the party. Sudip Bandyopadhyay won the previous polls by over 1.27 lakh votes, defeating his closest BJP rival.

The BJP is yet to announce its contestant from the seat. Sudip Bandyopadhyay’s candidature, though, was mired in controversy with a section of TMC leaders like Tapas Roy (who has now defected to the BJP) and Kunal Ghosh voicing their opposition to him.

Diamond Harbour: TMC’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is a two-term MP from the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha segment and is a repeat candidate from the seat this time. In 2019, he won the seat by a margin of over three lakh votes, bagging over 56 per cent vote share.

Besides the BJP, the candidates of the Left-Congress alliance and the Indian Secular Front are also likely to remain in the poll fray.

Dum Dum: A predominantly industrial belt in the northern fringes of Kolkata, Dum Dum is yet another TMC fortress it has dominated for the past 15 years. TMC has fielded sitting MP and veteran leader Saugata Roy from Dum Dum for his fourth consecutive term. In 2019, Roy defeated Samik Bhattacharya of BJP by over 53,000 votes. The seat was home to many industries.

Jadavpur: The Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency has a mix of urban and rural population with parts of it located in the southern suburbs of Kolkata and the rest in the rural belts of adjacent South 24 Parganas district. The TMC won the seat in 2019 by nearly three lakh votes over its BJP rival and currently holds six of the seven assembly segments. Bhangar, which was won by the opposition party ISF, is likely to receive considerable attention since it remained one of the hotspots of violence during the 2023 panchayat polls.

Bongaon: A Scheduled Caste-reserved seat, the Bongaon constituency has consistently hogged media headlines for its demography which has a dominant population of Matuas, a migrant Bengali-speaking Namasudra Hindu sect who suffered religious persecution in neighbouring Bangladesh, and the impact of the implementation of the CAA in the region. The Act has remained a long-standing demand of a significant section of Matuas. Union minister Shantanu Thakur, a prominent Matua leader, is a sitting MP from Bongaon which he won in 2019 by a margin of over one lakh votes. He will be up against TMC’s Biswajit Das, a former BJP leader.

Krishnangar: Expelled TMC MP Mahua Moitra won the Krishnanagar seat, yet another region comprising a significant population of Matuas, in 2019 by more than 63,000 votes garnering 45 per cent of the total votes polled. Mahua Moitra, considered to be among the most vocal of TMC parliamentarians, was expelled last year in cash for a query case following a Lok Sabha ethics committee recommendation to that effect.

Jhargram: This ST-reserved central Bengal constituency forms a significant part of the tribal belt of the state and encapsulates the state’s forest-covered territory, loosely called Jangalmahal. Once a bastion of the erstwhile Left Front government, the red brigade was dislodged by the Trinamool Congress in 2014 in the aftermath of violent Maoist activities in the area from 2008 to 2011. That triumph of TMC proved to be short-lived after the BJP snatched the seat away in 2019.

While the TMC hopes for a reversal of fortunes this time around by fielding Santhali playwright Kalipada Soren, a Padmashri and Sahitya Academy awardee, BJP is yet to name its candidate after sitting MP Kunar Hembram quit the party earlier this month citing “personal reasons”.

Balurghat: President of BJP’s Bengal unit and sitting MP Sukanta Majumdar is contesting from this North Bengal seat for the second time in a row. Majumdar would take on TMC’s Biplab Mitra, a minister in Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet in Bengal.

Bankura: BJP’s Subhas Sarkar, a junior Union minister, is seeking reelection from Bankura, while the TMC has fielded Arup Chakraborty, its MLA from Taldangra, one of the assembly segments within this Lok Sabha seat. A three-cornered fight is in the offing with the CPI(M) putting up Nilanjan Dasgupta from the seat. The constituency has a considerable tribal population and parts of it fall under Jangalmahal, the erstwhile Maoist stronghold.

Medinipur: The Medinipur constituency used to be a CPI bastion till 2014 and was wrested by BJP’s Dilip Ghosh in 2019 from the TMC, which had won the seat for the first time in 2014. The TMC has fielded actor-turned-politician June Maliah, its MLA from Medinipur segment, for the constituency. The party managed to regain a lot of ground in the 2021 assembly polls, having won in six of the seven segments in this constituency.

Baharampur: The Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency in Murshidabad district of central Bengal is known to be the stronghold of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who won the seat on five previous occasions on the trot. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

The Trinamool launched a fresh “outsider” attack on the BJP in a new campaign ahead of the national elections and accused their leaders of resorting to “catcall” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool’s number 2, targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and dubbed the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as a ‘Bengalis vs outsiders’ contest.

“Earlier, thieves used to go to jail, now they go to BJP, this is Modi’s guarantee. On the other side is a woman, she still lives in a tin roof house and wears a hawai sandal. Who does Bengal want? Modi or Didi? Bengal’s son of the soil or outsiders?” he told a massive rally in Kolkata.

Ms Banerjee is fondly referred to as Didi by her supporters as well as in the political circles.

The Trinamool has often targeted the BJP as an “anti-Bengal” party, especially after it expanded its base in West Bengal after the 2019 elections.

The BJP had bagged 18 out of 42 seats in Bengal in the previous Lok Sabha polls, the highest it ever won in the eastern state. In the 2021 assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the main opposition party with 77 seats, sidelining the CPM and the Congress.

The Trinamool today launched the ‘Jonogoner Gorjon Bangla Birodhider Bisorjon‘ campaign, which translates to ‘people demand the ouster of anti-Bengal forces’ and highlights what the party believes are “anti-Bengal traits” of the BJP.

“They consistently demonstrated anti-Bengal attitude, deprived the people of Bengal of the basic necessities of roti, kapda, makaan, and misused power to suppress Bengal’s voice,” they said in an online post.

The party accused the BJP-led government at the centre of conspiring against Bengal and that “Bangla Birodhi (anti-Bengal) traits are exhibited in each and every action of BJP.”

“These past 10 years are witness to a consistent attempt by these overlords from outside Bengal, to malign the image of the state and its people through manufactured and often violent conspiracies,” said the Trinamool.

It said Ms Banerjee continues to fight unfazed despite “catcalls” by BJP leaders and the people are determined to defeat them. “BJP leaders incessantly mock, insult and catcall Mamata Banerjee, the only female Chief Minister of the country. She, however, continues to fight unfazed for the people,” the party said.

Kolkata:

Criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party for fielding Bhojpuri Singer Pawan Singh from Asansol seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is anti-Bengali, adding that the BJP is giving tickets to those “who speak ill of women”, however, BJP in its reply said that TMC leaders must visit Sandeshkhali before making such remarks.

Pawan Singh announced earlier today that he won’t be contesting from the Asansol seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

In this regard, TMC MP Derek O’Brien said, “He came here, lectured on ‘Nari Shakti’ and then gave a ticket to someone who has vilified Bengali women. That’s the ‘Modi ki guarantee’. If you speak ill of Bengal, if you speak ill of women, we’ll give you a ticket.”

Responding to the remarks, BJP leader Ajay Alok said, “Derek O’Brien should go to Sandeshkhali and see the atrocities against women then he will release who is anti-Bengali.”

Earlier in the day, Pawan Singh announced that he would not be contesting from the Asansol Lok Sabha seat, however, he did not mention any specific reason for this move.

“I express my heartfelt gratitude to the top leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party trusted me and declared me as the candidate from Asansol but due to some reason, I will not be able to contest the elections from Asansol,” Pawan Singh posted on X.

In this regard, TMC leader Shatrughan Sinha, who also represents Asansol in the Lok Sabha, refrained from commenting and said that this is BJP’s internal matter.

“The decision to contest or not to contest is the party’s internal matter. I am not one to comment on this,” he said.

The BJP has drawn sharp criticism from the TMC after it decided to field Pawan Singh from Asansol.

TMC leader Babul Supriyo said that he has nothing against the Bhojpuri artist but his videos have multiple times insulted Bengali women.

“I have nothing against him or as an artist. But in the videos and movies, particularly of a person, Bengali women are targeted, how can the BJP field such a person from Asansol. It is clear that he was asked to tweet this deliberately. It is impossible for the BJP to release its first list without talking to the candidates,” he said.

Congress leader Pawan Khera on Sunday said that on one hand, the BJP is raising the issue of the Sandeshkali incident, and on the other hand, it is fielding singers like Pawan Singh to fight polls.

Pawan Khera also questioned whether Prime Minister Modi was aware of Pawan Singh’s image.

“This is an interesting case. All the agencies are under the control of the PM. Wasn’t he aware of Pawan Singh’s image? Now he gets to know that after 24 hours. This depicts what kind of government there is in the country. All the agencies are there to keep an eye on the opposition. It is obvious now that people like Harsh Vardhan are taking retirement because this is the era of Pawan Singh,” Khera said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jalpaiguri, West Bengal:

The ruling Trinamool Congress wrested the Dhupguri assembly seat in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district on Friday from the BJP in a by-election, an Election Commission official said.

TMC candidate Nirmal Chandra Roy, a college professor, won the seat by 4,309 votes. He bagged 97,613 votes, while his nearest rival, BJP’s Tapasi Roy, widow of a CRPF jawan killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in 2021, got 93,304 votes, he said.

CPI(M) candidate Ishwar Chandra Roy, who was backed by the Congress, was at a distant third spot with 13,758, he added.

Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee described the win as the victory of the common people and congratulated the people of Dhupguri.

She congratulated candidates for defeating the BJP in the by-elections in four seats in various states, saying it was a big win for the INDIA coalition.

The BJP lost in Dumri (Jharkhand), Puthuppally (Kerala), Ghosi (Uttar Pradesh) and Dhupguri, the ECI said.

“Dhupguri is a big win. The seat was with the BJP. It’s a historic victory and I congratulate all the people of Dhupguri. This is a win of the people,” Mamata Banerjee told reporters at the city airport before leaving for New Delhi.

At the national capital, Mamata Banerjee will attend President Droupadi Murmu’s G20 dinner invitation on Saturday.

“I would like to congratulate all those who defeated the BJP to win the bypolls. The BJP has lost four bypolls out of the seven held on September 5. This is a big win for INDIA,” she said.

“I thank the people of Dhupguri for reposing faith in us and voting decisively in our favour in the critical by-election to the Assembly constituency. People in North Bengal have been with us and trust our strategy of growth, inclusiveness and empowerment. Bengal has shown its mandate, and soon INDIA too will show its preference. Jai Bangla!” she posted on X, formerly Twitter.

With this victory, the TMC’s tally went up to 217 in the 294-member assembly. It also enjoys the support of six BJP MLAs, who switched over to the ruling party but are yet to resign from the House.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said the people of Dhupguri embraced politics of development over hatred and bigotry.

“Saluting every AITC worker for their tireless efforts in connecting with the people. We’re committed to leaving no stone unturned in ensuring Dhupguri’s all-round development,” he posted on X.

He had promised to make Dhupguri a sub-division by December this year.

Criticising the state BJP leadership’s failure to fix the organisational gaps for the defeat in the Dhupguri bypoll, party national secretary Anupam Hazra on Friday called for “proper” self-assessment and fixing of the lacunae ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

“I think it is high time that there is proper self-assessment and organisational gaps are fixed ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. We should take measures to fix our lacunae at the earliest,” Hazra told PTI.

Former BJP state president and MP Dilip Ghosh said it was “quite natural” for the party in power in the state to win bypolls.

“But at the same time, we must also have some sort of self-assessment regarding the results,” he said.

State BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya, however, said the party will react to the election result later after a thorough discussion within the party.

With its defeat in Dhupguri, the BJP has lost all by-elections since its 2021 assembly polls and the official number of seats of the party in the state assembly has come down to 74 from 77.

Six BJP MLAs have switched to the TMC but are yet to resign.

Holding that an opposition party has only a slender chance to win a by-election, the CPI(M) said it will review the Dhupguri bypoll results and take necessary steps to strengthen its organisation in North Bengal.

CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty claimed that anti-BJP feeling is increasingly gaining strength countrywide.

“An opposition party candidate has only a slender chance to win a bypoll as the ruling party has an advantage,” he said.

Admitting weakness in organisational strength in the assembly constituency, Chakraborty said, “We will review the result and take necessary steps.” CPI(M) candidate Ishwar Chandra Roy received 13,758 votes, around 600 more than what the party got in the seat in 2021 assembly polls.

Senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim alleged that the Congress and the Left campaigned against West Bengal’s ruling party despite being alliance partners in the INDIA bloc, an opposition front formed to take on the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls.

“We are against the BJP and have been constantly fighting against them. But the Congress and the Left are fighting and campaigning against us and trying to help the BJP in Bengal,” he said.

The BJP had snatched the seat from the TMC, which it had won twice since 2011, in the 2021 assembly polls.

The bypoll was necessitated owing to the demise of BJP MLA Bishnu Pada Ray.

The counting of votes was held amid tight security on Jalpaiguri campus of North Bengal University.

The polling for the by-election was held on September 5. A voter turnout of 78 per cent was recorded. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)