BJPs Kaustav Bagchi Triumphs Over TMCs Raj Chakraborty in Barrackpur Seat

Kolkata, May 4: In an exciting contest for the Barrackpur assembly seat in North 24 Parganas district, BJP candidate Kaustav Bagchi secured a significant victory. Bagchi garnered 78,466 votes, defeating TMC candidate and sitting MLA Raj Chakraborty by a margin of 15,822 votes. Chakraborty received a total of 62,644 votes. Eight candidates, including Shambhu Das from Congress and Suman Ranjan Bandyopadhyay from CPI(M), contested in this election.

Barrackpur is a prominent urban assembly constituency in West Bengal, considered a vital part of the Kolkata metropolitan area. This seat falls under the Barrackpur Lok Sabha constituency and is classified as a general seat. It was formed following the recommendations of the 2008 delimitation commission and has been active in assembly elections since 2011, encompassing the fully urban municipalities of Barrackpur and Titagarh.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has historically held a strong influence in this area. In 2011, Shailabhadra Dutta marked the party’s first victory by defeating the CPI(M) candidate by a wide margin. He retained the seat in 2016. Following his shift to the BJP, TMC nominated Raj Chakraborty in 2021, who managed to defeat the BJP candidate.

A significant shift in opposition politics has been observed. The vote share of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) plummeted from 35% in 2016 to approximately 11% in 2021. Meanwhile, the BJP’s support surged, exceeding 41% by 2024, leading to a triangular contest in the region.

As of 2021, the constituency had around 215,000 voters, with Muslim voters constituting about 17.8% and Scheduled Castes making up approximately 7.45%. This is a completely urban seat with no rural voters. Voter turnout has consistently declined, dropping from 77.82% in 2011 to 68.85% in 2021, reflecting urban voter apathy.

Historically, Barrackpur has been significant as a major military cantonment during the British era, with early events of the 1857 uprising linked to this area, prominently involving Mangal Pandey. Subsequently, it developed into an industrial hub due to jute mills, railways, and defense industries.

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