Among the constituencies that go to polls in West Bengal on May 12, are some of those that the BJP covets the most and would love to wrest from the clutches of the TMC. These are Medinipur, Ghatal, Kanthi and Tamluk. All of them cover various assembly segments that fall under either Eastern or Western Midnapore district, a region that has seen communal clashes and Naxal attacks.
Medinipore:
Formerly known as Midnapore, this constituency has seen communal clashes as well as activity by Naxal groups. It covers the assembly segments of Egra, Dantan, Keshiary, Kharagpur Sadar, Narayngarh, Kharagpur and Medinipur. A Congress bastion in the 50s, 60s and 70s, it has been a communist stronghold since then till 2014 when the tide turned in favour of the TMC.
But the TMC has not fielded incumbent Sandhya Roy and fielded Manas Bhunia instead. The BJP candidate is Dilip Ghose who had caused quite a stir with his constant jibes against Mamata Banerjee accusing her of minority appeasement and neglecting the majority community. Ghosh is the WB BJP president and has also landed in hot water when two FIRs were lodged against him for hate speech and instigating communal violence. Ghosh has also supported Rath Yatras, despite the possibility of these processions causing violence in communally sensitive regions. Ghose has also allegedly threatened the state police!
“You have been registering false cases against our workers. A day will come when we will strip of your uniforms. We are noting everything down. We are also calculating the money which has been spent to fight such cases in courts. Once we come to power here we will find out all those officers who slapped false cases against us. They will have to pay us back from their own pockets,” he had reportedlysaid.
Ghatal:
This is a twin constituency of Medinipur and has six assembly segments of the district viz; Pansukura Paschim, Sabang, Pingla, Debra, Daspur, Ghatal and Keshpur. This region has seen activity by Naxal groups.
TMC’s Dipak Adhikari, a local movie star who goes by the moniker ‘Dev’, is the incumbent and he is up against BJP’s Bharati Ghosh, a former IPS officer known for tackling Naxal activity in the Junglemahal area of the region. In fact, Naxal leader Kishanji was killed when she was SP of West Midnapore. While the CPI candidate is Tapan Kumar Ganguly, the INC has fielded Khandakar Mohammed Saifulla.
Kanthi:
All of the assembly segments under this constituency fall under the Eastern Midnapore district. These are; Chandipur, Patashpur, Kanthi Uttar, Kanthi Dakshin, Baghbanpur, Khejuri and Ramnagar. The constituency was created as a part of delimitation in 2006.
The incumbent is TMC’s two time MP Sisir Kumar Adhikari who is hoping for a third term. The BJP has fielded Debashis Samanta. While the CPI (M) candidate is former student leader Paritosh Pattanayak, the INC has fielded DK Das.
Tamluk:
Created after delimitation in 2006, Tamluk covers the assembly segments of Nandigram, Pansukra Purba, Tamluk, Moyna, Nandakumar, Mahisadal and Haldia. All of these are again located in the Eastern Midnapore district. It is famous as the land of the iconic Matangini Hazra.
The Adhikari family has been powerful in the region, with Suvendu Adhikari who shot to fame during the Nandigram movement winning the seat twice in 2009 and 2014. After he was made a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, he resigned and his brother Divyendu won the bye-election. He is contesting against the BJP’s Siddharth Naskar, a keertan singer. The CPI (M) has fielded Ibrahim Ali, who had previously contested against Suvendu and lost in 2014.
Among the constituencies that go to polls in West Bengal on May 12, are some of those that the BJP covets the most and would love to wrest from the clutches of the TMC. These are Medinipur, Ghatal, Kanthi and Tamluk. All of them cover various assembly segments that fall under either Eastern or Western Midnapore district, a region that has seen communal clashes and Naxal attacks.
Medinipore:
Formerly known as Midnapore, this constituency has seen communal clashes as well as activity by Naxal groups. It covers the assembly segments of Egra, Dantan, Keshiary, Kharagpur Sadar, Narayngarh, Kharagpur and Medinipur. A Congress bastion in the 50s, 60s and 70s, it has been a communist stronghold since then till 2014 when the tide turned in favour of the TMC.
But the TMC has not fielded incumbent Sandhya Roy and fielded Manas Bhunia instead. The BJP candidate is Dilip Ghose who had caused quite a stir with his constant jibes against Mamata Banerjee accusing her of minority appeasement and neglecting the majority community. Ghosh is the WB BJP president and has also landed in hot water when two FIRs were lodged against him for hate speech and instigating communal violence. Ghosh has also supported Rath Yatras, despite the possibility of these processions causing violence in communally sensitive regions. Ghose has also allegedly threatened the state police!
“You have been registering false cases against our workers. A day will come when we will strip of your uniforms. We are noting everything down. We are also calculating the money which has been spent to fight such cases in courts. Once we come to power here we will find out all those officers who slapped false cases against us. They will have to pay us back from their own pockets,” he had reportedlysaid.
Ghatal:
This is a twin constituency of Medinipur and has six assembly segments of the district viz; Pansukura Paschim, Sabang, Pingla, Debra, Daspur, Ghatal and Keshpur. This region has seen activity by Naxal groups.
TMC’s Dipak Adhikari, a local movie star who goes by the moniker ‘Dev’, is the incumbent and he is up against BJP’s Bharati Ghosh, a former IPS officer known for tackling Naxal activity in the Junglemahal area of the region. In fact, Naxal leader Kishanji was killed when she was SP of West Midnapore. While the CPI candidate is Tapan Kumar Ganguly, the INC has fielded Khandakar Mohammed Saifull.
Kanthi:
All of the assembly segments under this constituency fall under the Eastern Midnapore district. These are; Chandipur, Patashpur, Kanthi Uttar, Kanthi Dakshin, Baghbanpur, Khejuri and Ramnagar. The constituency was created as a part of delimitation in 2006.
The incumbent is TMC’s two time MP Sisir Kumar Adhikari who is hoping for a third term. The BJP has fielded Debashis Samanta. While the CPI (M) candidate is former student leader Paritosh Pattanayak, the INC has fielded DK Das.
Tamluk:
Created after delimitation in 2006, Tamluk covers the assembly segments of Nandigram, Pansukra Purba, Tamluk, Moyna, Nandakumar, Mahisadal and Haldia. All of these are again located in the Eastern Midnapore district. It is famous as the land of the iconic Matangini Hazra.
The Adhikari family has been powerful in the region, with Suvendu Adhikari who shot to fame during the Nandigram movement winning the seat twice in 2009 and 2014. After he was made a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, he resigned and his brother Divyendu won the bye-election. He is contesting against the BJP’s Siddharth Naskar, a keertan singer. The CPI (M) has fielded Ibrahim Ali, who had previously contested against Suvendu and lost in 2014.