Nine constituencies in Bengal are voting today. Here is everything you need to know about the constituencies and who the key contenders are
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh is passe, West Bengal is in. With just 42 seats, Bengal has become the nucleus of all political happenings from the beginning of the election and will go to polls on Sunday. An election that started with violence in North Bengal has till recently had a massive violent showdown in a road show of Amit Shah in Kolkata and is finally concluding. Here is a quick look at all the 9 constituencies voting in the last phase in Bengal.
TMCs' Sudip Bandyopadhyay will contest against Rahul Sinha, the BJP national secretary. This is the only seat where the BJP is said to be hopeful considering the presence of a lot of voters from the hindi heartland. The CPI(M) has fielded Kaninika Bose from here and the Congress, Syed Shahid Imam. This was the seat that was initially rumored that BJP president Amit Shah may fight from.
Mala Roy of the TMC is battling it out against BJP’s Chandra Kumar Bose from this seat. CM Mamata Banerjee's assembly constituency falls under this Lok Sabha seat. The CPI(M) has nominated Nandini Mukherjee from this seat while the Congress has fielded Mita Chakraborty.
In the Dum Dum seat, two heavyweights are fighting it out. If BJP has fielded Samik Bhattacharya from here, TMC has fielded MP Saugata Ray. Even on Thursday night, Samik Bhattacharya's car was attacked while he was campaigning in Dum Dum. CPI(M) has nominated Nepaldeb Bhattacharya, while the Congress has announced the name of Saurav Saha.
TMC sitting MP Kakoli Ghoshdastidar is contesting from Barasat against Mrinal Kanti Debnath of BJP. Here, the Congress has fielded Subrata Dutta and Left Front Constituent All India Forward Bloc has Haripada Biswas.
Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency has film star Nusrat Jahan fighting on behalf of TMC. She is locking horns with BJP’s Sayantan Basu. The Left Front constituent CPI, Pallab Sengupta, and Congress' Quazi Abdur Rahim are also fighting from the seat. This is a minority-heavy seat where Mamata recently went to oppose the triple talaq bill.
In the Jadavpur seat, ruling TMC’s celebrity candidate Mimi Chakraborty will contest against BJP's Anupam Hazra. Hazra very recently switched sides from TMC to BJP. The CPI(M) has fielded former Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya. This has been the first seat of Mamata Banerjee herself. So in a way, it's a prestige battle for Mamata here.
This is a star constituency where from Mamata Banerjee's nephew and sitting MP Abhishek Banerjee has been fielded by the ruling party. TMC number two is up against BJP’s Nilanjan Roy. While the CPI(M) has fielded its TV face Fuad Halim from here, the Congress has nominated Soumya Aich Roy.
In this reserved seat, TMC has propped up Pratima Mondal who will fight against Ashok Kandary of the BJP. Subhas Naskar will be from Left Front constituent RSP and the Congress has fielded Tapan Mondal.
Choudhury Mohan Jatua is the TMC candidate from this reserved seat against BJP’s Shyama Prasad Halder. Krittibas Sardar and Sarat Chandra Haldar have been fielded by Congress and CPI(M) respectively.
Bengal has been the most volatile state this election where a lot is at stake for the ruling TMC as BJP eyeing to milk the prevailing saffron surge.
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