BJP to haunt TMC in Dumdum, Left to fight it out for Jadavpur

The two constituencies of Dumdum and Jadavpur are on two sides of the metropolis, northern and southern directions, respectively. Being parts of the greater Kolkata metropolitan area, the fight in these two seats has been drawing as much attention as the two seats in Kolkata.

Both seats are a curious mix of urban, semi-urban and rural areas. It has become apparent that the BJP will play a significant role in the polls in West Bengal this year.

At Dumdum, the BJP has a presence in the form of two-time former MP Tapan Sikdar, pitted against sitting TMC MP and former Union minister Saugata Roy. The southern seat of Jadavpur is expected to see a tough fight between the TMC and the opposition Left.

At Jadavpur, the call for “Dilli chalo” is being given by Trinamool candidate Sugato Basu, a Harvard University professor and grand-nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Basu, a political novice, has joined the fight with the hopes that the contacts of his mother Krishna, a three-time MP from the same seat, will help him fight the “outsider” tag. He is pitted against former Left MP Sujan Chakraborty, who won the seat in 2004 but lost to Trinamool’s Kabir Suman in 2009. Suman, a singer and political activist, has since turned against the TMC.

Chakraborty, contesting from the seat for the third time, is likely to pin hopes on Suman’s rebellious streak and hope his accusations against TMC leaders will get him votes. He is said to have an upper hand against Basu, considering that he defeated Basu’s mother Krishna Basu from the same seat in 2004 by a margin of more than 89,000 votes.

Later, Chakraborty lost the seat to Suman by a margin of 56,000 votes and the Left has seen a gradual slump in its vote share in subsequent elections. The Left leader, the only seasoned politician in the fray – the Congress is represented by prominent painter Samir Aich and BJP by the relatively unknown Swarup Prasad Ghosh – is expected to take advantage of the Saradha chit fund scam that is dogging the TMC government and affected large number of small investors. He is also likely to take advantage of Sugato’s outsider tag.