The schism in the INDIA bloc has become more pronounced ahead of the third phase of the Lok Sabha election in which four constituencies in central West Bengal vote.
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Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee, who had participated in a few meetings of the INDIA bloc and had claimed to have given the name to the alliance, finally decided to field candidates from all the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State. She blamed the Congress for not being able to reach an electoral understanding.
Editorial | On the long road: On the INDIA bloc
During her campaign, Ms. Banerjee has been saying there is no INDIA bloc in West Bengal and the Left parties and the Congress have been working for the BJP. The Congress, led by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, and the CPI(M), led by Mohammad Salim, are not sparing an opportunity to target the Chief Minister and her government either. At a rally in Murshidabad’s Domkal, Mr. Salim, while sharing the stage with Mr. Chowdhury, vowed to drag the Chief Minister out of State Secretariat in the 2026 Assembly election.
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The region has a distinct geography and demography, and the issues are constituency-specific. Both Malda and Murshidabad districts have a significant minority population and the Trinamool, the Left and the Congress leadership want to win the support of the Muslim community. The BJP is hoping that a split in the Muslim vote and a polarisation of voters will help the party.
Out of the four constituencies, the BJP had won Malda Uttar, Congress had wrested Malda Dakshin and Trinamool had won Jangipur and Murshidabad in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. This time, the BJP has launched a high-pitched campaign not only in Malda but also in Murshidabad district. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have campaigned in Malda while BJP president J.P. Nadda has held rallies in Murshidabad. Ms. Banerjee and Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee are campaigning extensively in the region.
These constituencies have thrown up interesting battles. The CPI(M)‘s Mr. Salim is contesting from Murshidabad against sitting MP Abu Taher Khan of the Trinamool. In Jangipur, sitting MP and beedi baron Khalilur Rahaman is pitted against Congress candidate Md. Murtaza Hossain, grandson of Congress leader Abu Hena.
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In Malda Dakshin, Congress candidate Isha Khan Chowdhury is defending his family bastion. His father Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury had represented the constituency since 2006, and prior to this his uncle the late A B A Ghani Khan Chowdhury was the MP. The Congress candidate is facing Trinamool’s Shahnawaj Ali Raihan, a scholar from Oxford, and the BJP has fielded English Bazar sitting MLA Sreerupa Mitra Chowdhury. Malda Uttar will see a fight between sitting BJP MP Khagen Murmu and former IPS officer and TMC candidate Prasun Banerjee.
The region is one of the economically most backward regions of the State, with millions of youth migrating in search of work. While men move to the States in the south and in the north for higher wages, women roll beedis to add to their income.
The districts have also borne the brunt of river erosion that has left thousands of people homeless and the State losing about 200 square kilometres of land in the past several decades. Like the previous elections, politicians both in power at the Centre and in the State are giving assurances to the migrants and to the people affected by river erosion that they will take concrete steps after the election.
Another key issue that has dominated the election campaign is the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The Trinamool leadership, including the Chief Minister, has been highlighting that CAA and the Rules notified in March are a precursor to the National Register of Citizens and aimed at sending “Muslims to camps”. While the region was considered a Congress bastion, the Trinamool swept the Assembly election in 2021 on the issue of CAA-NRC. The Left-Congress leadership claims that the “CAA is an attempt to create a political binary of BJP-TMC” and will not have an impact on the electorate of the region in the Lok Sabha election.