Kolkata, February 19 (IANS). Chandipur block-level town of Tamluk subdivision of Purba Medinipur district has become a ‘thriller film’ of West Bengal politics. Because from this seat the superstar MLA of the cinematic screen, Soham Chakraborty.
Chandipur area falls in the lower Indo-Gangetic plains and eastern coastal areas. The landscape here is entirely rural, prone to frequent floods due to the district’s river network and proximity to the Bay of Bengal. Rivers like Haldi, Roopnarayan, Rasoolpur, Keleghai and Bagui flow from north to south or south-east. While on one hand these rivers quench the thirst of the fields and bring fertile alluvial soil, on the other hand they also cause the pain of seasonal floods every year.
The economy of Chandipur is completely dependent on agriculture and fisheries. Paddy, potatoes, oilseeds, pulses, vegetables and the famous betel leaves are grown in the fields. Electricity and drinking water have reached most of the villages, but Chandipur is still miles behind in terms of paved roads, transportation and banking facilities. District headquarters Tamluk is 25 to 27 kilometers away from here and this is also the nearest railway station, from where one can travel to Kolkata via Howrah-Kharagpur line. Other nearby towns include Bhagwanpur, Haldia, Egra, and Kanthi, but the daily commute to rural Chandipur is still a challenge.
Chandipur assembly seat (part of Kanthi Lok Sabha) on the political map came into existence in 2011. As soon as it came into existence, this seat became an impenetrable fort of Trinamool Congress (TMC). In the first election of 2011, TMC’s Amiya Kanti Bhattacharya defeated Vidyut Guchait of CPM (CPI-M) by 11,709 votes. In 2016 also, Amiya Kanti won and defeated Mangal Chand Pradhan by 9,654 votes.
But nothing is permanent in politics. By 2021, the direction of the wind in Chandipur started changing. The Left parties, which were once TMC’s main rivals, were marginalized and replaced by the BJP. BJP, which got only 2.98 percent votes in 2011 and 5.14 percent votes in 2016, emerged as a big wave in 2021. Sensing the anti-incumbency wave, TMC played a big gamble. The party canceled the ticket of its two-time MLA Amiya Kanti and in his place fielded famous Bengali film and TV star Soham Chakraborty. This ‘masterstroke’ worked. Soham’s popularity stopped the BJP’s progress. Soham defeated BJP’s Gajakant Gudiya by a margin of 13,472 votes. At the same time, CPI(M), which got 44.05 percent votes in 2011, shrank to only 4.47 percent.
The real ‘twist’ was seen in the data of Chandipur assembly constituency during the Kanthi Lok Sabha elections. In 2014, TMC had taken a lead of 25,540 votes over CPI(M) from here. In 2019, when BJP pushed CPI (M) from second place, TMC’s lead came down to 15,463 votes.
But in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, what happened in Chandipur, which was considered ‘impossible’ till a few years ago. The BJP took a symbolic but very lethal lead of 842 votes in this TMC stronghold. This small lead sent a huge psychological message to the entire region that even after coming close to victory, parties can face defeat.
The voters of Chandipur are very aware. There was 91.77 percent voting here in 2011 and in 2024 also this figure remained 86.20 percent. There is no unilateral dominance of any one caste or religion here.
Will TMC’s filmy ploy work this time too, or will BJP convert its small lead in the 2024 Lok Sabha into a big victory in the 2026 Assembly? This will be known only after the election results come.
–IANS
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