Battle of Jadavpur: TMC nominee counts on knowing 'pulse of people' in Triangular contest

Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat is one of the most high-profile seats in the state from where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee once defeated communist veteran Somnath Chatterjee .

The constituency will witness a three-cornered fight with CPI-M's youth face, Srijan Bhattacharya, pitted against Trinamool Youth wing president Saayoni Ghosh and BJP's Anirban Ganguly, a scholar-turned politician.

CPI-M leader Somnath Chatterjee was defeated by Mamata Banerjee, a Congress leader then, in 1984, in her debut contest. The constituency (Alipore seat then), which was won by CPI-M from1967 to 1980 by party veteran Indrajit Gupta and then by Somnath Chatterjee, was snatched away by Banerjee for the first time.

Banerjee said in a public rally on Wednesday that she knows every municipal ward and every nook and corner of this constituency. "I won from this constituency, and I know every part of it. It is close to my heart,"Banerjee said.

All the seven assembly constituencies under Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency are mostly located in the South 24 Parganas district. The constituency is mostly rural and semi-urban, except Tollygunge and Jadavpur. There are seven assembly seats -- Baruipur Purba (Scheduled Caste), Baruipur Paschim, Sonarpur, Bhangar, Jadavpur, Sonarpur Uttar, and Tollygunge.

Of the seven assembly segments, the Trinamool has MLAs in six, while the Indian Secular Front won Bhangar in 2021, which is a Muslim-dominated seat. There is a dominance of Muslim votes in at least three of these seven segments. ISF has also fielded its candidate Nur Alam Khan in this seat.

Trinamool candidate Ghosh is confident of victory. She said that she has travelled the length and breadth of the state in the last few years and can understand the pulse of the people. "Trinamool will emerge victorious and I am sure about it, Ghosh said.

Ramkrishna Hazra, a voter in this constituency, said, "During the Trinamool Congress regime, we received various development schemes. Then why should we look towards Delhi and consider the PM election? We will keep in mind the development done by Didi."

Another voter said he is unhappy with the development done by Modi and Didi. "I believed that after so many years of independence, India should have reached heights. We can't see anything here and thus I am not interested in politics. However, I will cast my vote," he says.

"People should get the opportunity to vote. That is of utmost importance. We will accept the people's verdict," the BJP candidate said. Ganguly is BJP's national executive committee member and chairman and trustee of Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation. Ganguly had lost the 2021 assembly elections from Bolpur-Shantiniketan.

CPI-M's Srijan Bhattacharya said, "People will embrace Red (Communist party). Let us all embrace Red and give it another chance."

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress actress turned politician Mimi Chakravarti won this seat defeating BJP's Anupam Hazra. In the 2014 elections, Havard professor Sugata Bose won the seat defeating Sujan Chakrabarti.

Netaji's family member Krishna Bose won Jadavpur seat from 1991 to 1999 while it was won by Sujan Chakrabarty in 2004. Trinamool grabbed the seat in 2009 with singer Kabir Suman as its candidate and in 2014, the seat was won by Netaji family kin and Krishna Bose's son Sugata Bose.