Noapara Assembly Election 2026: Can BJP's Arjun Singh upset TMC stronghold?

Kolkata:

A keen contest is unfolding in the Noapara Assembly seat in West Bengal, where the Trinamool Congress (TMC) faces a strong challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Assembly election. The constituency, located in North 24 Parganas and in close proximity to Kolkata, is witnessing a four-cornered contest.

The political background of Noapara is quite rich, with the Left being the predominant force in the area for years. Notably, the CPI(M) has been successful in winning the seat eight times in the past until the TMC finally ended the streak in 2001. The last time the seat was held by the Left was in 2006.

In recent years, however, the TMC has maintained a steady edge, especially in Lok Sabha segments, leading in all elections since 2009. The BJP made significant inroads in 2019, narrowing the margin sharply, but the TMC regained ground in 2024.

With the BJP attempting to build on its recent gains and the TMC banking on its consistent performance, Noapara is set for a closely watched battle that could hinge on urban voter sentiment and party organisation on the ground.

Key candidates

The Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress and Left alliance are the main parties in the state. The key candidates for the Virudhunagar seat are DMDK candidate Vijay Prabhakaran, AIADMK's VG Ganesan, TVK leader SP Selvam, and NTK's Lakshmanan, among others. BJP leader Arjun Singh, TMC's Trinankur Bhattacharjee, Congress candidate Asoke Bhattacharya and CPM's Gargi Chatterjee. 

West Bengal  Assembly constituency

The Noapara Assembly constituency is one of the 294 constituencies in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. It is constituency number 107 of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. The constituency is a general seat not reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). The constituency is a part of the North 24 Parganas district.

The Noapara Assembly constituency comes under the Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency. In 2021, Manju Basu of the TMC won the seat by defeating Sunil Singh of the BJP with a margin of 26,710 votes. 

Noapara Constituency Demographic Profile

As per data from the Election Commission, there were 2,61,570 voters in the Noapara constituency during the 2021 Assembly Elections. Out of this, 1,30,760 were male and 1,30,805 were female voters. Five voters belonged to the third gender. 1,744 postal votes were cast in the constituency. The number of service voters in Noapara in 2021 was 583 (539 men and 44 women).

In 2016, the total number of voters in the Noapara constituency was 2,41,322. Out of this, 1,22,371 voters were male, 1,18,948 were female. Three voters belonged to a third gender. There were 969 postal votes in the constituency. The number of service voters in Noapara in 2016 was 867 (537 men and 330 women).

What happened in the 2021 and 2016 Assembly Elections?

In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly Elections, Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Manju Basu won the Noapara seat with a margin of 26,710 votes (14.05%). She polled 94,203 votes with a vote share of 48.9%. He defeated Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sunil Singh, who got 67,493 votes with a vote share of 35.04%. Congress candidate Subhankar Sarkar stood third with 23,502 votes (12.2%).

In the 2016 West Bengal Assembly Elections, Congress candidate Madhusudan Ghose won the Noapara seat with a margin of 1,095 votes (0.58%). He polled 79,548 votes with a vote share of 42.05%. He defeated Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Manju Basu, who got 78,453 votes with a vote share of 41.47%. Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Amiya Sarkar stood third with 23,579 votes (12.46%).