KOLKATA 5 APRIL: A section of rural Howrah is gearing up for polls in the third phase scheduled to be held tomorrow and is all set to witness a fierce battle between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP).
The districts of Uluberia Uttar, Uluberia Dakshin, Shyampur, Bagnan, Amta, Udaynaryanpur, Jagatvallavpur are the ones entering the polls in the third phase apart from the 24 Assembly constituencies.
According to local villagers, although BJP is desperately trying to make inroads in the rural Howrah, and highlighting the ‘cut money’ received by TMC leaders during the post-Amphan cyclone disaster, while distributing relief materials as one of the main points to deflect voters from following the Trinamool Congress. But, that does not seem to deter the voters to shy away from choosing to follow Trinamool Congress as the majority of the voters of this constituency is in favour of TMC because of the development work carried out in this area, previously.
TMC Opines
Meanwhile, senior Trinamool Congress leaders are of the opinion that although BJP leaders are desperately trying to create a division between Hindus and Muslims in these areas, and trying to highlight the ‘syndicate raj’ and ‘cut money culture’ of TMC, they seem to be failing to cut ice amongst the voters. Also, it looks like voters have already made up their choice.
Sheikh Durbar, a resident of Uluberia Dakshin, said, “For Uluberia Dakshin, the main issue was development. In the past ten years, we have seen how the roads have been developed here. The connectivity from one area to other area have been developed. As a result, BJP’s narrative against TMC’s ‘cut money culture’ and ‘syndicate raj culture’ has failed to cut the ice among the voters.”
BJP’s Opinion
According to BJP leadership, although the TMC leadership is confident of winning the seats, the majority of the locals here seem to be dissatisfied with the TMC’s ‘cut money culture’ and the way the relief materials of cyclone-Amphan have been siphoned off by the ruling TMC. The senior leaders maintain their belief that the disgruntled villagers, this time, have made up their minds to vote for BJP and bring in change.
This year, Chiran Bera of BJP is contesting from Uluberia Uttar and Papiya Adhikari from Uluberia Dakshin. Both are pitted against Dr Nirmal Maji and Pulak Roy of Trinamool Congress from the respective constituencies. In Shyampur, actress Tanushree Chakraborty of BJP is pitched against TMC’s Kalipada Mondal. In Bagnan, Amta, Udaynaryanpur and Jagatvallapur, BJP leaders like Anupam Mallik, Debtanu Bhattacharya, Sumit Ranjan Karar, and Anupam Ghosh will be pitted against TMC’s Arunava Sen(Raja), Sukanto Pal, Samir Kumar Panja and Sitanath Ghosh from the respective constituencies.
According to Dilip Ghosh, the state BJP president, the candidates have been selected only after looking at the groundwork carried out by each of the candidates. He shares how all the candidates have a solid ground network and how the party is confident of winning from these constituencies. Further, he continues to say that people here are disgusted with the syndicate business of TMC and how they have been debarred from getting relief post-cyclone Amphan despite being a beneficiary. “This will help us to gain more votes in our favour and we are confident of winning the seats here,” said Ghosh.
Ghosh added, ”TMC party has turned into a corporate office. A section of TMC workers is disgruntled with the TMC leadership in these constituencies. This will help us to gain more votes from here.”
Finding the Pulse from Uluberia Uttar and Uluberia Dakshin
Radha Ram Mondal, a resident of Uluberia Uttar, said, “BJP has gained ground over the years in Uluberia Uttar and disgruntled villagers are now in favour of BJP. A section of villagers are frustrated with TMC’s ‘cut money culture’ and they have not received relief post-cyclone Amphan, although they were the beneficiaries. Moreover, internal feud amongst TMC leaders will help BJP to gain ground in their constituency.”
It is worth mentioning that Uluberia Dakshin is an Assembly constituency in the Howrah district of West Bengal that falls under the Howrah Lok Sabha constituency.
In 2016 West Bengal Assembly election, the constituency had a total of 1,77,325 registered voters.The voter turnout in Uluberia Dakshin in the previous Assembly election was 85.38 per cent. Now, it is worth noting that in the same Assembly election, Pulak Roy of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) won the Uluberia Dakshin constituency. He secured 95,902 votes as against 60,558 votes gained by his main opponent Md Nasiruddin of the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB).
Moreover, in 2011 as well, the TMC retained the seat after Roy was declared the winner. He won against AIFB’s Ahmed Kutubuddin Sk, who was defeated by a margin of 11,832 votes or 7.94 percent.
Uluberia Uttar is an Assembly constituency in the Howrah district of West Bengal that also falls under the Howrah Lok Sabha constituency. In the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election, the constituency had a total of 1,65,129 registered voters. The voter turnout in Uluberia Uttar in the previous Assembly election was 82.79 percent. In the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election, Dr Nirmal Maji of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) won the Uluberia Uttar constituency. He secured 79,390 votes as against 65,208 votes won by his main opponent Amiya Kumar Mondal of the Congress.
Likewise, in the 2011 election, Maji on receiving 76,469 votes, defeated CPM candidate Ghuku Bhim. Shyampur is an Assembly constituency in the Howrah district of West Bengal that falls under the Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency.
In addition, in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election, the constituency had a total of 2,03,670 registered voters. The voter turnout in Shyampur in the previous Assembly election was 85.91 percent. Notably, in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election, Kalipada Mandal won the Shyampur seat on an All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) ticket by garnering 1,08,619 votes against Congress’ Amitabha Chakraborty. He was the runner-up and was defeated with 26,586 votes. In comparison, the seat was retained by the TMC in 2011 as well. Mandal was declared the winner upon securing 99,501 votes. He won against All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) candidate Minati Pramanik by a margin of 34,619 votes or 19.71 percent.
Finding the Pulse from Bagnan
Bagnan constituency is located in the Howrah district of West Bengal that is a part of the Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency. Also, in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election, the constituency had a total of 1,80,932 registered voters.
Now, as per orders of the Delimitation Commission, Bagnan constituency is composed of Bagnan II community development block, and Bagnan I, Bagnan II, Bangalpur, Haturia I, Haturia II and Khalore gram panchayats of Bagnan I community development block. The voter turnout in Bagnan in the previous Assembly election was 85.95 percent.
It is worth sharing that Arunava Sen of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) was declared the winner from the Bagnan seat in the 2016 Assembly election. Sen received 97,834 votes as against 67,637 votes won by his next biggest opponent Mina Mukherjee Ghosh of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Ghosh was defeated by 30,197 votes.
Likewise, the TMC retained the seat by fielding Sen against Akkel Ali Khan of the CPM in 2011 as well. Khan was the runner-up and lost the electoral battle by a margin of 19,270.
Finding the Pulse from Amta
Amta is an Assembly/Vidhan Sabha constituency in the Howrah district of West Bengal. It falls under the Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency. The constituency had a total of 1,89,571 registered voters in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election. Now, as per orders of the Delimitation Commission, the seat Amta is composed of – Amta II community development block, and Bainan, Baksirhat, Kalyanpur, and Sabsit gram panchayats of Bagnan I community development block. The voter turnout in Amta in the previous Assembly election was 79.90 per cent. And Asit Mitra of the Congress was declared the winner from the Amta constituency in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election. He secured 89,149 votes as against 84,645 votes won by his main rival Tushar Kanti Sil of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).
In the 2011 Assembly polls, Mitra retained the Amta seat garnering 88,264 votes. He was pitted against CPM candidate Rabindranath Mitra and won by a margin of 13,719 votes or 8.05 per cent.
Finding the Pulse from Udaynarayanpur
Udaynarayanpur is an Assembly/Vidhan Sabha constituency in the Howrah district of West Bengal that falls under the Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency. The constituency had a total of 1,82,050 registered voters in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election. As per orders of the Delimitation Commission, the Udaynarayanpur constituency is composed of – Udaynarayanpur community development block, and Anulia, Balichak, Basantapur, Kanpur and Khosalpur gram panchayats of Amta I community development block. The voter turnout in Udaynarayanpur in the previous Assembly election was 84.17 percent. Also, Samir Kumar Panja of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) was declared the winner from the Udaynarayanpur constituency in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election. He secured 94,828 votes as against 71,070 votes won by his closest rival Congress’ Karar Saroj Ranjan. In comparison with the 2011 Assembly polls, Panja retained the Udaynarayanpur seat on securing 91,879 votes. He was pitted against CPM candidate Chandralekha Bag, who lost by a margin of 23,891 votes or 14.33 per cent.
Finding the Pulse from Jagatballavpur
Jagatballavpur is an Assembly/Vidhan Sabha constituency in the Howrah district of West Bengal under the Sreerampur Lok Sabha constituency. Also, the constituency had a total of 2,12,297 registered voters in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election. As per orders of the Delimitation Commission, Jagatballavpur is composed of – Baragachhia I, Baragachhia II, Hantal Anantabati, Jagatballavpur I, Jagatballavpur II, Pantihal, Shankarhati I, Shankarhati II, Shialdanga and Maju gram panchayats of Jagatballavpur community development block, and Begari, Domjur, Dakshin Jhapardaha, Parbatipur, Rudrapur, Uttar Jhapardaha and Makardah I gram panchayats of Domjur community development block.
The voter turnout in Jagatballavpur in the previous Assembly election was 82.88 per cent. Also, Md Abdul Ghani of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) was declared the winner in the Jagatballavpur constituency in the 2016 Assembly polls. He garnered 10,3348 votes as against 78,667 votes won by his nearest rival Baidyanath Basu of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Similarly, the seat was won by the TMC in 2011 as well. The party had fielded Abul Kasem Molla against CPM candidate Kazi Jafar Ahmed, who lost the election by a margin of 27,780 votes or 14.67 per cent.