NEW DELHI
Months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, battle lines are already being drawn in Diamond Harbour constituency in West Bengal as rival parties try to queer the pitch for Abhishek Banerjee, the current two-term MP who is the Trinamool Congress’ second-in-command and nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Last week, Nawshad Siddique, the sole All India Secular Front (AISF) representative in the West Bengal Assembly, said that he was willing to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Diamond Harbour. “If my party nominates me I will contest from Diamond Harbour in 2024 and in that case, I will make the sitting Lok Sabha member from there a former MP,” Siddique claimed.
He added that if the ruling party’s “Diamond Harbour model” of rampant poll-related violence, which was evident in the panchayat elections this year fails to work in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the results will surely be different.
AISF sources said Siddique would be contesting from Diamond Harbour definitely even if the party did not get the support from the Congress-Left Front alliance. Nawshad Siddique’s claim has triggered speculation about the polarisation of Muslim votes against the ruling TMC, which Bengal has witnessed in some regions in the recent Assembly and panchayat elections.
In South 24-Parganas district of which Diamond Harbour is a part, Muslims comprised 35.57% of the population during the 2011 census and the number has increased substantially in 12 years, local politicians say. On its part, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, declared that he would engineer Abhishek Banerjee’s defeat by fielding a candidate in Diamond Harbour.
“I will defeat the nephew. If required, I will make someone stand against him at Diamond Harbour,” Adhikari said at a BJP event without naming Banerjee.
Referring to Abhishek Banerjee as “khoka babu” (kid), Bengal Congress president and Lok Sabha member from Murshidabad, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: “If Siddique contests, then khokababu will have a tough time.” The Trinamool Congress hit back immediately. In a press conference addressed by Trinamool’s senior leaders Shashi Panja and Partha Bhowmick, the party said it considered the comments of the Opposition leaders as “just political stunts to stay relevant in the media”. The party said that its public representatives have brought in pro-development policies, and worked for the people.
“No matter who contests the Diamond Harbour seat, Trinamool Congress will win,” Panja said. “The Leader of Opposition (Adhikari) should ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contest from Diamond Harbour. Even if that happens, Abhishek Banerjee will win…,” she said, adding that the PM himself was in a direct fight—in terms of campaigns—in the 2021 Assembly elections, confronting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party and yet the people of Bengal gave a resounding win to the Trinamool.
Meanwhile, Abhishek Banerjee has stepped up his outreach activities in his constituency, say observers. Banerjee, while distributing clothes at Batanagar Amantran Club ground in Maheshtala, said: “I had promised our block and town leaders that I would hold events in each Assembly segment of Diamond Harbour and present gifts to our people as an elected representative. From next year, we will reach the gifts to your doorsteps with the help of our volunteers. The clothes being presented here are not a donation but a gift from my side. I request you to accept it,”
In his speech, Abhishek highlighted that recently more than Rs 250 crore was spent on the construction of a flyover. “When I inaugurated the Charial Bridge earlier this year, I announced that the state government had allocated Rs 52 crore for the renovation and development of the 7-km long Budge Budge Trunk Road. The work is currently underway and one side will be completed in the next 10 days. The other side should be done in 2-3 months,” he said.
Banerjee added: “People told me that despite a flyover, many in Maheshtala use the roads below and this is why a road repair work is urgent. For health infrastructure, the municipality ensured a hospital at the cost of Rs 70 crore, named after former MLA Kasturi Das. Multiple water projects are underway. KMDA has already started to construct a massive water treatment plant which in future shall benefit the people.”
“The state government has planned an apparel hub at Nungi at the cost of Rs 32,000 crore to boost the garment industry. After being elected in 2014, I have been presenting report cards—Nishobdo Biplob—every year showcasing the work done for the people in this constituency with the help of the state government. No other MP from the country shares his or her report card in such detail every year.”
Speaking at Falta in Diamond Harbour, Banerjee said, “Many people have expressed an interest in contesting from Diamond Harbour. I welcome them. This is the essence of a democracy. Leaders from Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh can also contest from Diamond Harbour if they want.” The Trinamool leader said that during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Falta had contributed 45,000 votes to the victory margin of 3.21 lakh votes. “This time, I urge people to increase it to 70,000,” he said.
“Like previous elections, CPI(M) will try to play the communal card to defeat me by nominating candidates from minority communities. Those who tried to use communal rhetoric to contest the elections in the past are reduced to such political irrelevance that people don’t even remember the names of their candidates today,” he said. Coming down heavily on the saffron party he said, “The BJP had tried to engineer a riot in Diamond Harbour constituency two days before the Lok Sabha polls. I went to the area personally and doused the flame. When the Lok Sabha election results were out, from 70,000 votes in 2014 Lok Sabha election, I had won by 3.21 lakh votes. This is how people had punished the communal party,” he remarked.
He said Trinamul Congress does not divide the people belonging to different communities, castes or religion. “During Covid, we served food to the people and while distributing food we did not ask people about their religion or caste. We stood beside people during natural calamities like Amphan, Yas and when relatives of people suffering from incurable diseases seek our help. Rest assured, we will continue to do it in future.”
He added: “Trinamool Congress workers work day and night to serve the people of the constituency. All-round development has taken place in the Assembly segments. This is the Diamond Harbour model,” he maintained.
In spite of all this rhetoric, the fact is that Abhishek Banerjee is hugely dependent on the minority community voters to win this seat with substantial numbers. Observers say that Nawshad Siddique could emerge as a major headache for Abhishek Banerjee by dividing the minority vote, especially if the other political parties back his candidature.