Kolkata, April 15 -- "What is the city but the people?" The line from Shakespeare's Coriolanus rings true in Bhangar Assembly constituency, where the electorate lives under simmering tension, with the spectre of violence never far when strongmen clash for control.
The quietude of morning in Bhangar is often shattered by crude bombs exploding across open fields. Elections - be they panchayat, Assembly or Lok Sabha - may differ in scale, but violence maintains its status quo here.
Ironically, the political colour of the seat has long been red - not just for the Left, which dominated Bhangar from 1972 to 2001, but also for the bloodshed marking its electoral landscape. The Congress has won it thrice and the Trinamool Congress twice, until the 2021 Assembly polls when the Indian Secular Front's (ISF) Naushad Siddiqui wrested control. This time, Siddiqui is battling to retain his turf.
The Trinamool has fielded strongman Saokat Mollah, the sitting MLA of Canning East. His name figured in the National Human Rights Commission's 2021 report listing "notorious criminals/goons", a charge he denies, claiming he had no criminal case against him.
On the other side is Arabul Islam, once a Trinamool strongman and long seen as Mollah's rival, now with the ISF and campaigning in Bhangar - a seat he won in 2006. Arrested in 2024 in connection with panchayat poll violence over the alleged murder of an ISF worker, Islam and Mollah now accuse each other of importing and stockpiling bombs at booth level in Bhangar. Siddiqui has distanced himself from such "violent tactics" but asserting he will retain the seat "come what may".
The Left, honouring its seat-sharing arrangement with the ISF, has not fielded a candidate. The BJP's nominee Jayanta Gayen has stirred controversy after Mollah visited his residence seeking votes. The Left and ISF allege longstanding ties between them, claiming Gayen's brother is a Trinamool booth president and his sister a panchayat pradhan. Gayen, they say, has run a low-profile campaign. The Congress has fielded Mahabubul Islam.
Bhangar's electoral arithmetic is shaped by its substantial Muslim population, with minorities constituting about 36 per cent of South 24-Parganas district. Sections of minority voters appear disenchanted with the Trinamool, particularly over Mamata Banerjee's failure to keep her promise in preventing the Centre's new Waqf law in the state.
Another factor is the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. After adjudication, nearly 2.2 lakh voters have been deleted in the district, with the overall list pruned by around 10.4 lakh names. In 2021, Bhangar had 2,71,897 electors, of whom 2,42,575 voted, a turnout of 89.21 per cent. Siddiqui won 1,09,237 votes (45.10 per cent), defeating Trinamool's Rezaul Karim (83,086; 34.31 per cent), while BJP's Soumi Hati polled 38,726 (15.99 per cent). The margin was 26,151 votes - a lead of 10.79 percentage points.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.