Rashbehari set for high-stakes battle as TMC, BJP gear up for tough contest

Kolkata: Rashbehari Assembly, one of the state’s most high-stakes constituencies, is set for a tough electoral battle in the upcoming polls. Sitting TMC MLA Debasish Kumar is banking on the Mamata Banerjee government’s development and welfare push, while BJP’s Swapan Dasgupta claims voters are disillusioned and seeking change.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) managed only a slender lead of 1,691 votes in this Assembly segment during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, putting both the ruling party and its candidate on alert. Kumar, who has been campaigning extensively and holding multiple meetings with party workers across wards, said party supremo Mamata Banerjee—also contesting from neighbouring Bhowanipore—remains the key USP. He also underscored the party’s strong grassroots connection.

Kumar asserted that the 2024 segment-wise results will have little bearing on the Assembly polls, calling it an entirely different “game.”

It is to be seen how far Oxford-educated Dasgupta will be able to breach the TMC’s fortress in Rashbehari, which is a mix of upscale residential zones and middle-class inhabitants. He had contested from the rural Tarakeswar seat in the 2021 Assembly poll and lost to his nearest TMC rival.

Rashbehari includes some of the city’s most well-known neighbourhoods, such as Ballygunge, Lake Market, Deshapriya Park, Southern Avenue, Hindustan Park and parts of Gariahat. Veteran TMC leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay held the seat for five consecutive terms from 1998 to 2016. In 2021, he shifted to Bhowanipore, and Kumar was fielded and won the seat comfortably, defeating the BJP’s Lt. Gen. (Dr) Subrata Saha by 21,414 votes, improving upon Chattopadhyay’s 2016 margin of 14,553 votes. Kumar, in 2021, got 52.79 per cent of the votes, while the BJP’s candidate got 35.59 per cent of the votes.

According to Election Commission figures, Rashbehari had 2,06,013 registered voters in the 2021 Assembly polls, up from 1,99,083 in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In 2021, the turnout stood at 60.41 per cent, one of the lowest in recent years.

While Kumar is confident about winning the seat, the BJP’s rising vote share and near parity in the 2024 Parliamentary polls suggest a tough contest. Rashbehari, though, promises to be a closely watched electoral battle.