Infamous for political violence and turf war not just during the elections but throughout the year, these two constituencies have thrown up challenges for the ruling Trinamool Congress in retaining its grip over the party’s stronghold of South 24 Parganas district.
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Locals brace for an increase in political clashes in the already charged atmosphere, with the TMC and Indian Secular Front (ISF) making it evident that they will not leave any stone unturned to win these two seats adjoining Kolkata.
The Nawsad Siddique-led ISF has fast replaced the CPI(M) as the main challenger to the TMC in this area.
In 2021, the then newly formed ISF surprised many with Nawsad winning the Bhangar constituency and becoming the only other opposition party except the BJP in the assembly. The ISF is contesting more than 33 seats this election in an alliance with the Left Front.
Bhangar and Canning Purba are the litmus test for the ISF as to whether it can emerge as an alternative force among Muslim voters. Nawsad is a descendant of Muhammad Abu Bakr Siddique, the first Pir of Furfura Sharif, which holds sway over a section of Bengali-speaking Muslims in the state.”People of Bhangar are peace-loving, they are averse to any kind of violence,” Nawsad said, alleging that elements owing allegiance to the ruling TMC unleash violence in the area.
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He asserted that the general populace of Bhangar is “very well-natured and stays away from trouble”.
Stating that he has fought for the people of Bhangar both inside and outside the legislature, the lone ISF MLA said, “This time the battle will not be as tough as 2021. I am confident that the people will make me victorious by doubling the margin by which I won last time.”
However, the local TMC leadership blamed the ISF for incidents of violence in Bhangar.
“Miscreants belonging to the ISF are behind mischief and violence. People of Bhangar will teach them a lesson through their votes this election,” Canning Purba’s TMC MLA Saokat Molla, whom the party has fielded from Bhangar this time, asserted.
Kalu Sheikh, a farmer in Bhangar, however, felt it would be a very difficult challenge for Saokat Molla to overcome Nawsad Siddique’s popularity.
He said Nawsad has considerable influence in Bhangar as well as in Canning Purba, where Muslims make up a significant percentage of voters.
While some local party leaders claim that Saokat’s detractors catalysed his candidacy shift from Canning Purba to Bhangar because they wanted him to face a real challenge, TMC leaders said that placing him in Bhangar only shows how seriously the party views the constituency.
TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, however, put her weight behind Saokat, terming him as her “right-hand” while addressing a poll meeting in Bhangar.
Claiming that a conspiracy had been hatched to kill Saokat, the chief minister said that if necessary, she would withdraw her security officers and give them to the TMC’s Bhangar candidate to ensure his safety.
Saokat, however, sounded confident of winning from Bhangar, stating that the TMC government’s development and welfare schemes will ensure the ISF’s defeat.
“I will win by at least one lakh votes,” Saokat claimed, though a challenging task seems to be ahead of him in vanquishing Nawsad, who is popularly known as ‘Bhaijan’ among his supporters.
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls exercise has become a focal point in the campaign in both constituencies.
While Mamata Banerjee accuses the BJP and the Election Commission of conspiring to eliminate names of voters belonging to the minority community, Nawsad pointed fingers at the state government of complicity in the exercise by not providing computer specialists, thus rendering the voters vulnerable to mistakes leading to their names cropping up in the logical discrepancy list.
In 2021, Nawsad secured a 45 per cent vote share in Bhangar, while the TMC candidate registered 34 per cent votes and the BJP’s contestant garnered 15 per cent.
Disgruntlement among some local TMC leaders like Kaisar Ahmed and Rafikul Khan, who are openly challenging Saokat’s candidacy in Bhangar, may also work against the TMC candidate. Intra-party clashes between Saokat’s supporters and those of these leaders have occurred in the past.
In 2021, Saokat secured over 52 per cent vote share in Canning Purba, while his nearest rival of the ISF could manage only over 29 per cent votes. The TMC has this time fielded Baharul Islam in Canning Purba in place of Saokat.
On the other hand, ISF has fielded in Canning Purba Arabul Islam, a turncoat who had bagged Bhangar for the TMC from the CPI(M) in 2006 when the Left Front registered a landslide victory, but he has since fallen out with the Mamata Banerjee-led party after being allegedly sidelined by newly emerged leaders, including Molla.
A peeved Arabul, who was arrested by the police in 2024 for the murder of an ISF leader and spent five months in jail before being granted bail by the Calcutta High Court, recently joined the Nawsad-led party.
Arabul said this time the game is likely to be different, asserting that he will wrest Canning Purba from the TMC, a claim pooh-poohed by the ruling party, which said that its organisational strength is far better than that of ISF and asserted that despite a change in candidate, it would hold the seat owing to development work by the Mamata Banerjee government.
Both Bhangar and Canning Purba will go to vote on April 29 in the second phase of the polls.
Nitai Baidya, a resident of Jibantala, which had witnessed incidents of violence in the past, said the locals are wary of political strife as the poll date nears.
“We only want the police and central forces to ensure proper security in the region before the poll day as the cascading effects of violence will affect our lives and livelihoods,” he said.
