Counting of votes for the Panihati Assembly constituency, along with 292 other seats across West Bengal, has begun. The constituency went to the polls in the second phase on April 29.
This seat is expected to witness a closely contested battle. The race is likely to be primarily between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), although several other parties are also in the fray, adding to the competitiveness of the political landscape.
Who is winning Panihati ?
Counting begins in Panihati. Postal ballots are being counted, after which EVM votes will be counted.
TMC has fielded Tirthankar Ghosh as its candidate, aiming to retain its strong base in the constituency. Historically, Panihati has been a reliable seat for the party. Senior TMC leader Nirmal Ghosh had won the seat for three consecutive terms after taking it from the CPI(M) in 2011, strengthening the party’s hold in the area.
This time, however, the BJP has put forward Ratna Debnath, who is the mother of the RG Kar rape and murder victim. The case had a strong emotional impact across West Bengal and has also influenced political discussions around law and order in the state. BJP hopes this sentiment may help it gain ground in the constituency.
Key candidates in fray
Other candidates in the race include Kalatan Dasgupta from the CPI(M) and Subhashish Bhattacharya from the Congress, adding further competition.
In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election, Nirmal Ghosh of TMC defeated BJP’s Sanmoy Bandhapadhyay by a margin of 25,177 votes in Panihati. The constituency falls under the Dum Dum Lok Sabha seat, where in the 2024 general elections, TMC candidate Prof Saugata Roy won against BJP’s Silbhadra Dutta by a margin of 70,660 votes.
