New Delhi, February 11 (IANS). Behala East Assembly seat, located in the southern part of Kolkata, holds an important place in the politics of the state. This seat comes under Kolkata South Lok Sabha constituency and is a general category seat. Although it is part of Kolkata city, it is administratively included in the South 24 Parganas district. This seat consists of 11 wards of Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
The history of this seat is quite old. The original Behala assembly seat, created in 1951, has undergone changes in name and boundaries from time to time. In the initial phase, leftist parties were dominant. The All India Forward Bloc first won in 1952, then the Communist Party of India (CPI) won in 1957 and 1962.
Of the 11 elections held in Behala East from 1967 to 2006, CPI(M) won 9 times. Congress broke this trend in 1972, while Trinamool Congress (TMC) showed its first strong presence in 2001. Since 2011, this seat has become a strong stronghold of TMC. TMC won all three elections (2011, 2016, 2021). In 2011, Sovan Chatterjee defeated Kumkum Chakraborty by 48,173 votes. In 2016, the margin dropped to 24,294 votes, where Independent Ambikesh Mahapatra finished second. In 2021, Ratna Chatterjee defeated BJP’s Payal Sarkar by 37,428 votes.
The rise of BJP here remains a matter of concern. BJP’s vote share was just 1.91 percent in 2011, which increased to 10.71 percent in 2016 and 33.15 percent in 2021. The same trend was seen in the Lok Sabha elections also. In 2019, TMC led with 43.90 percent (89,341 votes), BJP got 36.10 percent (73,483 votes). In 2024, TMC secured 45.15 percent (97,125 votes), while BJP stood at 38.07 percent (81,899 votes). The CPI(M)-Congress alliance got 14.17 percent votes.
There were 313,669 registered voters here in 2024, of which SC voters are 10.16 percent and Muslims are 3.80 percent. This seat with 90.35 percent urban voters shows voter apathy. Voting percentage declined from 73.83 percent in 2016 to 68.59 percent in 2024.
Behala East is one of the oldest residential areas of Kolkata. The area is flat and with good connectivity. Diamond Harbor Road is the main road, connected by metro, rail and road. Economically it is dependent on small trade, retail and services. From Taratala to Mantan, there are shops, markets and eating places. Education and health facilities are strong. Nearby areas are Joka (6 km), Thakurpukur (4 km), Taratala (5 km), Alipore (9 km) and Howrah (15 km).
BJP is claiming victory with two-third majority against TMC’s 14-year-old government. At the same time, Congress’s decision not to contest elections in alliance is being seen as a challenge for TMC, which can lead to vote division.
–IANS
SCH/DKP
