Balurghat Lok Sabha Battle: Retaining This Bengal Seat Matter of Prestige for BJP; Here's How Things Stand

Balurghat is one of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal. While six of the assembly segments of Balurghat constituency are in Dakshin Dinajpur district, one is in Uttar Dinajpur. Although reserved for Scheduled Castes until 2009, it has been a general seat since. Balurghat comprises the following assembly segments: Itahar (TMC), Kushmandi (TMC), Kumarganj (TMC), Balurghat (BJP), Tapan (BJP), Gangarampur (BJP), and Harirampur (TMC).

Dr Sukanta Majumdar from the Bharatiya Janata Party is the incumbent MP here and is set to defend the seat. The other key candidates are Biplab Mitra of the Trinamool Congress and Joydeb Siddhanta of the Revolutionary Socialist Party. Polling will take place on April 26, in the second of the seven phases in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Political Dynamics

1. For the BJP, winning Balurghat is a matter of prestige, since its state president Dr Sukanta Majumdar is on the ballot here. In 2019, the BJP had won the seat, but with a margin of just about 33,000 votes. In a Lok Sabha constituency witnessing a battle of heavyweights, that is not a very impressive figure. More importantly, it signals that the seat still has the potential of being wrested by the TMC.
2. It is therefore not surprising that the BJP’s single-point agenda in Balurghat is to not just win the seat, but increase Dr Majumdar’s victory margin to over 1 lakh votes.
3. Inputs from the ground suggest that the battle for Balurghat is tied between the BJP and TMC, although the saffron party holds a slight edge. This is mostly because Dr Sukanta Majumdar is largely seen as an MP who has been active on the ground for the past year, and has brought positive change to his constituency.
4. Among Majumdar’s biggest achievements as MP has been the improvement and expansion of railway connectivity in Balurghat. The BJP state president, who was previously a professor, is confident that his efforts to connect Balurghat and neighbouring regions in north Bengal to the railway network, including the launch of the Sealdah-Balurghat Express and other train services, will contribute significantly to securing victory by a margin exceeding one lakh votes. The BJP has meanwhile accused the TMC of neglecting Balurghat and not caring about its development since it is an “interior” constituency.
5. Besides, Majumdar is also credited for getting development funds from the Centre for the betterment of Balurghat.
6. In terms of attacking the TMC, among the biggest issues being raised by the BJP are corruption, lawlessness and the ruling party’s indecisiveness to act against criminal elements. The events that have unfolded in Sandeshkhali, and the manner in which attempts were made to protect the alleged perpetrator of it all, Shajahan Sheikh, are among the focus points of the BJP’s campaign.
7. The BJP also realises that the fight in Balurghat this time around is perhaps more difficult than in 2019. Sukanta Majumdar, despite being the state BJP president, has been forced to concentrate on his constituency alone in the run-up to two election phases. Essentially, the TMC has been able to contain Sukanta Majumdar to Balurghat at least until April 26, which is when the constituency goes to vote.
8. Since the BJP fielded Sukanta Majumdar, who is a political heavyweight in West Bengal, it became necessary for the TMC to match the tempo. This is why the TMC has fielded state minister Biplab Mitra from Balurghat.
9. The Balurghat Lok Sabha constituency has been switching hands since 2014. Once a bastion of the Left and its allies, Balurghat voted for the Revolutionary Socialist Party continuously from 1977 to 2009. Finally, in 2014, TMC’s Arpita Ghosh breached the Left citadel and won the seat for Mamata Banerjee. In 2019, the seat flipped again, and went to the BJP’s Sukanta Majumdar. Given how Balurghat has voted incumbents out in two consecutive general elections now, the TMC is hopeful it can edge Majumdar out this time.
10. The TMC is relying on some of its flagship schemes to swing the most crucial voters to its side. Trinamool’s unique selling proposition this time is the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, which was launched in 2021 to provide women belonging to the general category with a stipend of Rs 500 every month, while the amount for SC and ST women was fixed at Rs 1,000. In the state budget for this year, however, TMC chose to go down the road of populism and increased the allowance for general women under the scheme to Rs 1,000 and for SC/ST women to Rs 1,200. Ever since, the party has been going door to door explaining the hike in allowance for women and how this is Mamata Banerjee’s gift.
11. Observers on the ground say the SC, ST and OBC vote will be split between the BJP and TMC this time around, with the saffron party possibly getting about 30% of the votes from these communities. In Balurghat, the winning vote share is usually about 45%. Both the TMC and BJP are said to have a solid 40% vote bank, and the fight really is for swinging an additional 5_6% of the vote to win the seat. TMC’s cash doles for women will definitely help the party.
12. The TMC is relying primarily on its alleged claims that the BJP government at the Centre has withheld funds for MGNREGA and PM Awas schemes. The TMC cadre is trying to take this message to every house across West Bengal and paint the image that the BJP is against the state’s development. Trinamool’s sustained campaign on this issue has made it among the biggest talking points this election season. On the other hand, the BJP, and PM Narendra Modi himself have alleged that the funds for these schemes have been swindled by the TMC and that their corruption is to be blamed for Bengal not developing fast.
13. Balurghat has about 29% Muslim voters, most of whom are expected to vote for the TMC.
14. There are a few factors that could work to Biplab Mitra’s disadvantage. First, he is an MLA from Harirampur and as such, his influence across Balurghat Lok Sabha constituency is yet to be tested. Second, Mitra joined the BJP before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but switched sides and returned to the TMC before the assembly polls of 2021. This has created an impression that he is a turncoat in politics.

Key Issues

Corruption: For the BJP, the TMC’s alleged corrupt practices in West Bengal are a major poll plank. The local-level corruption allegedly perpetrated by Trinamool is steadily becoming a major issue in all parts of the state – Balurghat included. The BJP, led by PM Modi himself, is going out of its way to highlight the corruption prevalent within the TMC and how it is impacting the lives of ordinary citizens. With the Prime Minister himself countering the TMC allegations that the Centre has stopped PM Awas and MGNREGA funds for the state, and saying that the ruling party in Bengal has swindled the money meant for these schemes, corruption promises to be one of the defining factors this election season.

Rail Connectivity: The BJP accuses the TMC of ignoring the demands of the people of Balurghat, who for long have been asking for additional train services from the constituency. It is largely believed that BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar played a crucial role in securing the Sealdah-Balurghat direct train. The BJP is set to benefit from securing this train service for the people of Balurghat.

Hindutva: Being a constituency that borders Bangladesh, the BJP has made it a point to accuse the TMC of promoting illegal infiltration. Additionally, it is also raising the issue of CAA, and promising citizenship to Hindus and other Indic minorities who fled Bangladesh and are now settled in Balurghat. Recently, union home minister Amit Shah himself attacked the TMC, saying Mamata Banerjee had been misleading people on the issue and that people can apply for citizenship without fear. The BJP is also highlighting the abrogation of Article 370 sections in Jammu and Kashmir and the ban on triple talaq. As such, religious polarisation continues to remain a focus in West Bengal. The TMC, on the other hand, is trying to consolidate its hold over the Muslim community by claiming that the CAA-NRC combine will be used for ulterior purposes by the BJP.

Water Shortage: The TMC has been raising the issue of people in Balurghat, Gangarampur, and Kushmandi facing a severe water crisis due to the embankment in the Atreyee River. It has also been blaming the BJP for the problem.

Demographics

• Total Voters: 14,29,783
• Rural Voters: 1,276,796 (89.3%)
• Urban Voters: 152,987 (10.7%)
• SC Voters: 408,918 (28.6%)
• ST Voters: 218,757 (15.3%)
• Muslims: 422,057 (29.5%)

Development

1. In March, PM Modi dedicated multiple developmental projects in the rail and road sectors worth more than Rs 4500 crore in north Bengal. The projects include Eklakhi- Balurghat section, Barsoi-Radhikapur section, Raninagar Jalpaiguri-Haldibari section, Siliguri-Aluabari section via Bagdogra, and Siliguri-Sivok-Alipurduar Jn-Samuktala (including Alipurduar Jn-New Cooch Behar) section.
2. In 2022, funds worth Rs 2.5 crore had been allocated for the upgradation of Balurghat railway station. Meanwhile, in February this year, PM Modi laid the foundation for the redevelopment of 23 railway stations in six states in the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) zone at a cost of Rs 685.32 crore, including the Balurghat railway station.
3. The Balurghat airport is also expected to commence operations this year, bringing air connectivity to one of the more interior regions of West Bengal where mobility and lack of sufficient facilities have been a raging issue among the people.
4. In January, after much delay, the Balurghat-Hili Rail extension project was restarted by the Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway. Railways had given around Rs 298 crore to the district administration to acquire land for the extension of this line. Interestingly, the project was announced when Mamata Banerjee was the country’s rail minister, but work came to a halt due to complications caused by the land acquisition process.

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