Kolkata: Bidhannagar Assembly constituency will see a high-voltage fight between Sabyasachi Dutta, the former mayor of the township, who defected to the BJP, with state Fire Minister Sujit Bose.Sujit-Sabyasachi, two old warriors in a battle in front of a well-known field, will 'play' in Bidhannagar.
Sitting Trinamool Congress MLA Sujit Bose in his bid for third successive term to the state legislature from the prestigious Bidhannagar seat of North 24 Parganas is trying to reap the fruit of his work for development of constituency over the years and close personal rapport with the masses.
In his third outing in the battle of ballots Bose has to take on BJP nominee Sabyasachi Dutta and Congress-Left Front common candidate Subhojit Dasgupta in a triangular contest that shows slight tilt towards Mr Bose seeing his work and three decade long association with people .
Mr Bose recently started his election campaign in Patipukur area.
“While going door to door he stated that I have a relationship of faith with the people of this is area. My main goal is development and I am solely concentrating on that,” he added.
Mr Bose started his political career at the age of 22 as a CPI(M) activist three decades ago at local body level by winning in the 1986 municipal election. He worked as member of the local civic body for more than two decades.
However, his association with the Communist Party was for brief as he remained Independent(Councillor) for some years and then joined in Mamata Banerjee's camp.
Mr Bose has nursed the constituency well. He is popular at the grassroots level and is a known face in Salt Lake and the areas under South Dum Dum Municipality as he regularly attends local residents' events.
He has ensured that many clubs and block associations of Salt Lake benefited from the chief minister's dole of Rs two lakh. He has also given funds to several small clubs and block associations in his constituency from his MLA local area development fund.
The most visible among development works taken up by him, is the clock tower resembling London's Big Ben on VIP Road at the Lake Town crossing. The beautified banks along the canal from Lake Town to Dum Dum Park and renovation of parks in the area have been appreciated by residents.
Mr Bose and his party have been wooing hard non-Bengali voters.
On the other hand, Mr Dutta started his political career as a member of the Congress party and went on to join the All India Trinamool Congress in the late 1990s. He was elected councillor in the Bidhannagar Municipality for the first time in the 2000 municipal elections, and then got re-elected in the 2005 and 2010 polls. In 2011, he was elected MLA from Rajarhat New Town constituency.
Four years later, in 2015, after several municipalities were merged and the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation was established, Dutta was elected mayor of the corporation. In 2016, he won his second election as an MLA.
In October 2019, Dutta joined the BJP at an event at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah hugging and welcoming him to the party fold with a scarf.
"For me, the country and its interest are much bigger than personal or a party's interest. India has achieved new heights under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Dutta said.
"I would urge Amit Shahji that the way he ensured Kashmir cool's down, he should also take steps to cool down Bengal. The people of Bengal are yearning for a change and it will happen very soon," he said.
The Bidhannagar constituency was part of Belgachia East constituency, from where CPI(M) leader and former state transport minister Subhash Chakraborty was elected seven times in a row from 1977 to 2006.
In 2006 Chakraborty won by a margin of only 1,749 votes. But after his death, his wife Ramola Chakraborty could not hold on to the seat during the by-elections. Sujit Bose won by a margin of 28,260 votes.
The Belgachia East constituency does not exist anymore after delimitation, but a major portion of the erstwhile constituency is now part of Bidhannagar constituency
In the 2011 Assembly elections, Mr Bose won this seat by a convincing margin of 35,925 votes defeating the Left Front candidate Palash Das.
In 2016, Mr Bose won the seat by defeating Arunava Ghosh from Indian National Congress with a margin of 6988 votes.
Bidhannagar Assembly constituency is falling under Barasat Lok sabha constituency.
In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress candidate Dr. Kakoli Ghoshdastidar won from Barasat Lok Sabha (MP) Seat with the margin of 109983 votes by defeating Mrinal Kanti Debnath from Bharatiya Janata Party.(UNI)
