The Baharampur Assembly constituency in West Bengal is expected to witness a closely fought contest in the upcoming state elections. The seat falls under the Baharampur Lok Sabha area in Murshidabad district and is drawing significant political attention this time.
The main contest is likely between Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and BJP candidate Naru Gopal Mukherjee. The entry of Chowdhury has made the race more intense and competitive.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Chowdhury was defeated in Baharampur by Yusuf Pathan of the Trinamool Congress. He lost by a margin of around 85,000 votes. After this defeat, Chowdhury decided to contest the upcoming Assembly election.
What happened in 2021 Assembly Election
In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls, the seat was won by BJP’s Subrata Maitra. He defeated TMC’s Naru Gopal Mukherjee by 26,852 votes. Congress candidate Manoj Chakraborty finished in third place with 40,167 votes.
Baharampur is considered a politically important seat and is often seen as a strong area for the Congress in Murshidabad district. However, recent elections have shown a shift in voter support, making the contest more unpredictable.
The constituency has a mix of urban and rural regions. It includes the Baharampur municipality along with five gram panchayats. Out of these, two areas are largely Muslim-dominated.
Baharampur demography
According to Election Commission data from the 2021 Assembly elections, the constituency had 2,60,667 registered voters. This included 1,28,101 male voters, 1,32,553 female voters, and 13 voters from the third gender category.
On the ground, the sitting BJP MLA has been focusing on door-to-door campaigning rather than large public rallies. He has stated that he aims to reach around 500 households each day as part of his outreach strategy.
The West Bengal Assembly elections will be conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29, covering all 294 seats in the state. Voting in the Baharampur Dakshin constituency is scheduled to take place in the first phase on April 23.
