Political bigwigs battle it out in fourth phase of polls in Bengal
Eight Lok Sabha constituencies across ve districts of West Bengal will go to the polls in the fourth phase of election on May 13. These constituencies in south Bengal will see political heavyweights such as State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury contesting from Baharampur, and Trinamool Congress leaders Mahua Moitra and Shatrughan Sinha contesting from Krishnanagar and Asansol, respectively.
The BJP candidates include former State BJP president Dilip Ghosh from Bardhaman Durgapur, S.S. Ahluwalia from Asansol and Jagannath Sarkar from Ranagath. Two World Cup-winning cricketers, Yusuf Pathan and Kirti Azad, are testing the political pitch from Baharampur and Bardhaman Durgapur, respectively. Both of them have been nominated by the Trinamool.
The fourth phase will see a total of 75 candidates in the fray. The BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has campaigned for BJP candidates Amrita Roy and Mr. Ghosh. Ms. Roy, who hails from the erstwhile Krishnanagar royal family, is the richest candidate in this phase with total assets estimated at ₹554 crore declared in her election a¦davit. She is contesting against Ms. Moitra.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah have also campaigned for Mr. Ghosh, who is pitted against Mr. Azad. Mr. Ghosh had won the previous Lok Sabha polls from Medinipur but this time he was nominated from Bardhaman Durgapur. The Baharampur constituency in Murshidabad district has thrown up a triangular contest with Mr. Chowdhury, a ve-time MP defending his efdom, from the Trinamool and the BJP candidates.
Of the eight seats, the Trinamool won ve in 2019, the BJP won two and the Congress got one.
Interesting contest
Birbhum, where both the seats were won by the Trinamool in 2019, has thrown up an interesting contest. The BJP had to change its candidate at the eleventh hour. The candidature of Debasish Dhar was cancelled during scrutiny and it nominated Debtanu Bhattacharya. He is contesting against three-time Trinamool MP Satabadi Roy.
The BJP had to also change its candidate for Asansol. The party had initially elded Bhojpuri singer and actor Pawan Singh, but faced criticism as some of his songs were considered derogatory of Bengali women. It then nominated two-time party MP S.S. Ahluwalia. He will be contesting against Mr. Sinha.
There are a varied range of issues dominating the election from the Citizenship ( Amendment) Act, particularly in the two constituencies bordering Nadia district — Ranaghat and Krishnanagar. The issues of closed industries and §ight of capital are crucial to Asansol and Bardhaman Durgapur.
Inter- and intra-party violence has dominated politics in Birbhum district where the Birbhum and Bolpur constituencies are going to the polls.