CPM’s Archana Bhattacharya defeated her nearest rival Bansibadan Karmakar of the Congress, by 8,817 votes in the election which was necessitated by the death of power and labour minister Mrinal Banerjee. Banerjee won the seat by around 41,000 votes in 2006.
The Trinamool Congress was in the previous election aligned with the BJP and it was a triangular fight with both the Trinamool and the Congress putting up candidates. The seat has for years been regarded a citadel of the Left. In last year’s Lok Sabha election, CPM’s Saidul Haque led by over 14,000 votes from the segment.
Published 08 July 2010, 19:08 IST