BJP may well be headed for a double whammy in South Kolkata LS seat
Kolkata: The Kolkata South Parliamentary constituency, a bastion of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) which has given numerous Cabinet ministers since 2011, appears to be a resilient fortress, impervious to the surging saffron tide.
If the 2024 Lok Sabha polls can be seen as a duel between the TMC and the BJP, then the Kolkata South seat is a one-man show.
Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is not only a voter and resident of this seat but was also elected to the Parliament at least six times since 1991 from this constituency.
This precisely is why South Kolkata is always on the priority list of the ruling dispensation in Bengal.The BJP may well be headed for a double whammy here since this constituency is also a known turf for TMC candidate Mala Roy who is also the chairperson of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and has been a councillor in the past from South Kolkata.
With over 9 lakh women voters in this constituency, Roy, apart from highlighting the “successful schemes” of the state government, is emphasising the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme where the state has increased the allowance to Rs 1000 for general category women and Rs 1200 for SC/ST from April 1. Four out of seven MLAs of the seven Assembly seats under the Kolkata South Parliamentary seat are heavyweight Cabinet ministers which includes Mamata Banerjee (Bhawanipore), Firhad Hakim (Kolkata Port), Javed Ahmed Khan (Kasba) and Babul Supriyo (Ballygunge).
Further, former state Education minister and now suspended Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee, arrested in the cash for jobs scam, is the sitting MLA of Behala West Assembly seat.
Notwithstanding these factors, it won’t be a cakewalk for TMC as in the 2021 Assembly elections, the BJP was able to lead in 26 wards in this seat.
Electorates are of the notion that this time the challenge for Trinamool is to retain its vote share. The seat also has a considerable number of Muslim voters who have so far pledged their loyalty to TMC.
Other candidates in the fray are Saira Shah Halim from CPI(M) and Debasree Chaudhari of the BJP. The Left is seeking votes highlighting the several alleged corruption cases involving the TMC-led government which came to the fore since the 2021 Assembly elections and against the “communal politics” of the BJP.
BJP’s Debasree Chaudhuri is asking for votes based on “development” done by the Narendra Modi-led-Central government.
However, this seat is an unknown turf for Chaudhari who is the sitting MP from Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency in North Dinajpur district.
In the 2019 Parliamentary polls, TMC candidate Mala Roy garnered a vote share of about 48.1 per cent, BJP’s Chandra Kumar Bose garnered only 35.1 per cent while the CPI(M) came third with 11.8 per cent.
