NEW DELHI: The industrial town of Bardhaman-Durgapur will witness a three-corner election between the state-ruling Trinamool Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Congress-led I.N.D.I. alliance. Since 2009, Bardhaman-Durgapur has sent CPI (M), TMC, and BJP representatives once each to the Lok Sabha in the three previous polls. The constituency is spread across western Bardhaman district and eastern Bardhaman district in West Bengal. It comprises seven assembly segments: Bardhaman South, Bardhaman North, Monteswar, Bhatar, Galsi, Durgapur East, and Durgapur West. In the 2019 election, the BJP’s S.S. Ahluwalia won this seat with a margin of around 3000 votes. Three out of seven assembly segments have voted in favour of the BJP, and the remaining four have voted for TMC. However, in the 2021 assembly election, the TMC clinched victories in all segments except Durgapur West.
But this time may not be good enough for TMC to win the Lok Sabha seat in 2024 as the Sandeshkhali incident has raised serious questions against them.
BJP’s candidate senior party leader and former State BJP president Dilip Ghosh from Bardhaman-Durgapur is ready to overturn the election victory pattern of the constituency.
On the other hand, TMC has fielded cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad, while the I.N.D.I.A. bloc announced Sukriti Ghoshal’s name for the contest.
The people of Bardhaman-Durgapur seem unhappy with the state government and are complaining about various issues like drinking water, roads, unemployment, transportation, waterlogging, electricity, education, and corruption. Many voters told The Sunday Guardian that this time they would change the voting pattern from leader-centric to development-centric. They said TMC MLAs didn’t listen to their problems, and they didn’t get the development that they needed.
While talking to The Sunday Guardian, a shopkeeper near the Howrah railway station said, the area lacked cleanliness, drainage was clogged most of the time, and during rains, the roads get submerged in water. Despite complaining to local councillors and MLAs, no action was taken. He added, “The constituency has seen some development under the BJP’s MP, S.S. Ahluwalia, and I hope it will continue till the area gets fully developed, and for that, I’ll vote for the BJP.”
50-year-old Dulal Mondal said that under TMC rule corruption has gone up, and even the police administration doesn’t listen to people. He said, “Goons of TMC are romping in the city like they own it. If ECI managed to conduct a free and fair election in the state, then the BJP would win the majority of the seats, but that’s not going to happen as elections can’t be completed in Bengal without violence, and with that, TMC always manages to win most of the seats.”
Santosh Kumar, a “toto” (e-rickshaw) driver, said that the people of Bardhaman-Durgapur want development and nothing more. “In the 2021 assembly election, TMC promised that they would give Bardhaman-Durgapur proper roads, but after winning the assembly election, TMC did nothing.”
Arun Singh, a resident of Durgapur, said that since the last decade, many industries in the region have shut down, due to which thousands of workers lost their jobs, and unemployment is at its peak. The people of Durgapur have no choice but to migrate in search of a job. He added, that people in the constituency will vote for the BJP hoping they will open all the closed industries in the region.
While speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Dilip Ghosh said that once he wins, his priority will be to resolve all the local issues like drainage, waterlogging, garbage, roads, etc. He added that TMC has not done anything and does not even bother to improve the industries. Due to this, many of the industries have closed. After coming to power, I will again make the constituency an industrial hub, as it has everything like land, water, and electricity; it just needed a proper administration that TMC failed to provide.
On the other hand, TMC candidate Kirti Azad told The Sunday Guardian that “Bengal is well known for its history, culture, and tradition, and the BJP’s candidate doesn’t fit in any of the above three categories.” He added that we will expose the lies of the Narendra Modi-led central government’s stepmotherly treatment towards Bengal vis-à-vis the non-release of central funds.
Abhay Mishra, a political analyst of Bengal politics believes that this time the BJP indeed has an upper hand in Bengal. A win for the BJP could signal a consolidation of its presence in the state, while a loss could necessitate a re-evaluation of strategies for the party in this key battleground state. However, the Left-Congress alliance aims to resonate with the people on issues like unemployment and the agrarian crisis, stemming from state and central policies, as their primary campaign themes in the constituency. He pointed out that the constituency had a diverse demographic, with nearly 20 per cent Muslim voters, while the scheduled caste community comprises 27 per cent. Non-Bengali people are the deciding voters in the constituency, and whichever side they shift, that party will emerge victorious.
As election day approaches, all eyes are on Bardhaman-Durgapur, one of the 42 constituencies of West Bengal, which will go on poll in the fourth phase of the election, i.e., on May 13, 2024. Bardhaman-Durgapur was poised for an interesting battle in this election as candidates of all parties were trying to woo the voters on their side. It is situated around 100 km away from the capital, Kolkata. The constituency, created after the reorganisation of parliamentary constituencies in 2008, is a blend of industrial and farming regions.