Here’s a quick look at the Raiganj Lok Sabha seat:
Assembly segments:
Islampur
Goalpokhar
Chakulia
Karandighi
Hemtabad
Kaliaganj
Raiganj
Candidates
Mohammed Salim (Communist Party of India-Marxist)
Deepa Dasmunshi (Congress)
Deboshree Chowdhury (Bharatiya Janata Party)
Kanaia Lal Agarwal (Trinamool Congress)
Who won the seat last time?
CPI(M) candidate Mohammed Salim won the seat in 2014 with 29% votes. Salim won the seat by just 1,634 votes. His closest contestant Deepa Dasmunshi had won 28.5% votes. The BJP had finished third and Trinamool Congress fourth.
Who won before that?
Congress’ Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi had won the seat in 1999, 2004, his wife Deepa won it in 2009, but lost in 2014. Before Dasmunshi, the CPI(M) had won the seat thrice. But earlier, it had always been the Congress in Raiganj.
What about this time?
This is a tough fight for all the candidates this time. Even in 2014, the BJP had a good support base in this area, and had finished third. The BJP candidate Deboshree Chowdhury has been a popular leader in north Bengal. In fact, it is one of the seats the BJP is hoping to win this time due to a deep polarisation of votes along religious lines. There have been communal flare-ups too in this region including one at Daribhit in Islampur. But what this also means is that the Muslim population in Raiganj may largely vote for the Trinamool Congress this time, instead of the CPIM or the Congress. With a large Muslim population in this constituency it may go either Trinamool Congress’ way or with the BJP this time.
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