Glimpse Of Hooghly Lok Sabha Constituency For 2019 LS Poll
Hooghly: The importance of Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency lies in the fact that it is where TMC’s real success story started. Singur, part of Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency along with Nandigram , catapulted Mamata Banerjee to the CM’s post in 2011.
A decade after the Singur agitation, reactions seem to be mixed about what farmers gained from it.
The sentiment in Singur is a subplot of the interesting battle in Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency where two women have slugged it over last month for political supremacy.
Ratna De Nag of TMC is fighting against BJP’s star candidate, actress turned political Locket Chatterjee. Locket who is the head of the BJP women’s cell in Bengal is known for her combative nature whereas Ratna Dey Nag is a complete contrast. Nag though has been an active parliamentarian and has almost used the entire MPLAD fund given for her constituency.
In the largely rural constituency, Nag is hoping that her work, the schemes implemented by the TMC government and party’s robust orgaisation will help her win easily.
However, Locket Chatterjee is unwilling to let go without a fight. Chatterjee fought the assembly polls unsuccessfully in 2016 but has been one of the most vocal- TMC critic off late. Her party office was vandalised recently for which she blamed TMC. Chatterjee hoped for getting a ticket from Birbhum or Bankura, where she was primarily working for the party’s organisation. But even in a difficult constituency like Hooghly, which is in the heart of TMC’s giant South Bengal firewall, Locket is putting up a spirited fight. She has tried to get the warring faction of the party together and is looking to latch onto the anti-incumbency factor. CPI(M)’s Pradip Saha and Congress’ Pratul Chandra Saha are also in fray from Hooghly which goes to polls on 6th May.
The assembly segments under Hooghly are Singur, Chandannagar, Chunchura, Balagarh (SC), Pandua, Saptagram and Dhanekhali (SC) . Historically, Hooghly was a CPI(M) bation. After Hindu Mahasabha won in 1952, undivided CPI won twice and then CPI(M) have won the seat ten times barring 1984 wave election. Rupchand Pal of CPI(M) won from Hooghly seven times till he was defeated by Ratna De Nag in 2009 by 82 thousand votes. Nag managed to increase her lead winning by 1.89 lakh votes in 2014 over CPI(M)’s Pradip Saha. Chandan Mitra of BJP came third polling only 12% votes. Can Locket Chatterjee pull off a stunning win in Hooghly, which will have a seismic effect on Bengal politics? We will know on May 23.
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