KOLKATA: Development, or perceived lack of development, and recurring floods every monsoon have become major issues in the erstwhile red stronghold Alambagh Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal’s Hooghly district. There is. The district is a political hotspot in the state from a legal and legislative standpoint, and is protected by South Carolina. Order volatility.
The TMC may have won the 2014 and 2019 assembly polls in Alam Bagh, but this coupled with the fact that the 2021 state polls saw the BJP ahead the Trinamool in four of the six Alam Bagh assembly seats in Hooghly. The steady decline in the party’s vote share over the past two elections is a sign of this. About the upcoming battle that Mamata Banerjee’s party will have a harder time getting through than it appears on paper.
Perhaps that is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose Alam Bagh to launch his poll drive in Bengal, addressing the first public meeting of the poll season on March 1, calling the Mamata Banerjee government “betraying the people of the state”. That’s probably why he criticized it.
As per the state’s ruling, two-time MP Aparupa Poddar has been replaced by Hooghly Zilla Parishad member Mithali Bagh, who is appearing in the assembly polls for the first time. The BJP has nominated Arup Kanti Degar, also a first-time candidate.
Digger said people, especially farmers, were in dire straits due to repeated floods. P.T.I..
“Floods are a common occurrence in places like Purusra, Goghat, Kanakul and Chandrakona during July-August every year. “However, we are only paying lip service to the government on the Ghatal master plan to control flood damage in neighboring Passim Medinipur,” he said.
He also accused the state government of neglecting to create employment opportunities for youth and discriminating against the region.
The Panchayat has withheld the disbursement of central funds for several welfare schemes for the poor under the Narendra Modi government, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate further alleged.
Troubleshooting Mr. Digha’s story, his TMC counterpart claimed that women and youth in the constituency have benefited from various schemes implemented by the Mamata Banerjee government in the state.
Bagh said, “The less the Bharatiya Janata Party talks about the Alam Bagh floods, the better. Despite constant pleas from our government and our parliamentarians, the Bharatiya Janata Party-run centers are still not working on the Ghatal Master Plan, Mayurakshi and Kelegai. “We are not working on flood control projects.”
“An integrated plan is needed to prevent floods in basin-like areas during monsoon, but the Centre’s discriminatory attitude has proven to be a stumbling block over the years,” she asserted.
The CPI(M), which had won 10 times in Alambagh till 2014, fielded primary school teacher Biplab Maitra.
A district leader of the CPI(M) said the party had been virtually wiped out from seats in the last decade due to “terror unleashed by the TMC”.
The CPI(M) received 1,00,520 votes in 2019, which was less than 7 per cent of the votes cast.
But things are different this time, he claimed.
“The young generation, especially unemployed graduates, are angry at the TMC, which has not only failed to industrialize but also thrown the state’s education sector into disarray with unprecedented levels of job fraud. , we expect it to work if voting is free and fair,” the CPI(M) leader said.
Arambagh has vast agricultural land and is dominated by rural meeting places such as Haripal, Tarakeshwar, Purusra, Alambagh, Goghat and Kanakul. It also includes Chandrakona, the only assembly unit that falls under the adjoining district of Passim Medinipur.
Election observers believe that the fight between the TMC and the BJP is likely to be finally settled this time.
“This time, TMC seems to be in a bit of trouble due to grassroots dissatisfaction with development in the area and repeated floods. School recruitment scams are also likely to have an impact. There are young teaching aspirants, especially from Alambagh and Hooghly district in general,” said Ashis Bera, an academic and resident of Purusra.
Bera, a political science professor at Burdwan University, said the Sandeshkari incident could also cast a shadow on the ruling government’s prospects.
“There is a strong undercurrent of support for Mamata Banerjee among women. We need to see if her social welfare schemes can tip the balance in her favor. Arambagh is also a microcosm of the entire south West Bengal. “The trend here, therefore, can largely reflect the ruling party’s poll fortunes in other so-called safe seats” south of the Farakka barrage, he said.
Digha said Banerjee’s decision to drop two-time Alam Bagh winner Aparupa Poddar from the polls shows that all is not well within the TMC. She claimed that factionalism within the TMC would adversely affect the election prospects.
“TMC won last time with a margin of just 1,142 votes. Let’s see which way the wind blows when the votes are counted on June 4,” said the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate.
However, Bagg dismissed the opposition’s claims, saying such a workaround was just a political ploy and had little truth to it.
Alam Bagh is scheduled to go to polls in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 20.
issued May 3, 2024, 04:47 IST
