Kolkata, May 5: In a surprising turn of events during the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, Naushad Siddiqui of the All India Secular Front triumphed over TMC candidate Soukat Mulla by a margin of 32,088 votes. Siddiqui secured 126,555 votes, while Mulla garnered 94,467 votes. The BJP’s Jayanta Gayan came in third with 30,177 votes.
Bhangar is a general assembly constituency that falls under the Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency. It includes the entire Bhangar II Block and parts of Bhangar I Block, specifically the Jagulgachhi, Narayanpur, and Pranaganj gram panchayats. Locally, it is referred to as Bhangao. Established in 1951, this seat has participated in every assembly election since its inception. In the first election in 1952, it was a joint seat, with both Congress and the Communist Party of India declared winners.
Historically, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) dominated this area, winning eight times and holding the seat continuously from 1972 to 2001. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has also won twice, while other parties, including the Bangla Congress, independents, and the Indian Secular Front, have found success here as well.
In 2006, TMC broke CPI(M)’s long-standing dominance by a narrow margin, but the Left regained the seat in 2011. TMC won again in 2016. The most significant shift occurred in 2021 when Naushad Siddiqui (Indian Secular Front) defeated the TMC candidate by 26,151 votes. Despite fluctuations in assembly elections, TMC has consistently maintained a lead in Lok Sabha elections in this region, winning by a margin of 111,000 votes in 2019, which decreased to around 41,000 in 2024.
The constituency has a Muslim voter base of approximately 65.9%, with Scheduled Castes making up about 18.57%. It is primarily rural, with only about 6% urban voters. Voter turnout remains high, recorded at 89.07% in 2021, 85.60% in 2019, and 88.02% in 2016.
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