Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) secured victories in Muslim-majority areas of southern West Bengal with significant support from the minority community, while the division of their votes contributed to BJP’s successes in the northern regions of the state.
In West Bengal, where minority voters constitute approximately 30% of the electorate, their influence spans across 16-18 Lok Sabha seats, making them a pivotal voting bloc for all political parties.
Key parliamentary constituencies like Raiganj, Cooch Behar, Balurghat, Malda North, Malda South, Murshidabad, Diamond Harbour, Uluberia, Howrah, Birbhum, Kanthi, Tamluk, Mathurapur, and Joynagar, which have significant Muslim populations, played crucial roles in the election outcomes.
The BJP retained seats such as Balurghat, Raiganj, and Malda North, capitalizing on the fragmentation of minority votes between the Left-Congress alliance and the TMC. In these constituencies, BJP candidates secured victories despite the Left-Congress alliance garnering more votes than the BJP’s winning margins.
For instance, BJP’s Kartik Chandra Paul won Raiganj with 5,60,897 votes, defeating TMC’s Krishna Kalyani who received 4,92,700 votes, while the Left-Congress candidate Ali Imran Ramz secured 2,63,273 votes.
In Balurghat, BJP’s Sukanta Majumdar secured 5,72,925 votes against TMC’s Biplab Mitra with 5,63,252 votes, with a winning margin of 9,673 votes, while the Left-Congress nominee Joydeb Siddhanta polled 54,081 votes.
In Malda North, BJP’s Khagen Murmu retained the seat with a margin of 77,708 votes over TMC’s Prasun Banerjee, with the Left-Congress alliance polling 3,84,764 votes.
Following these outcomes, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticized the Left-Congress alliance for allegedly aiding BJP’s victories in north Bengal.
Despite these losses, TMC managed to wrest the Cooch Behar seat from BJP and celebrated a significant victory by defeating Congress stalwart Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in Baharampur, electing TMC’s Yusuf Pathan with a margin exceeding 85,000 votes.
Except for Tamluk and Kanthi seats, where the TMC faced challenges, the party swept Muslim-majority constituencies in southern Bengal, with minority communities supporting TMC to counter BJP’s electoral advances.
According to minority leaders, Muslims in West Bengal favored TMC under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership, viewing it as a reliable choice compared to the Left-Congress alliance.
The decision of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) to contest independently added complexities for the Left and Congress in courting minority voters, especially with BJP leveraging polarizing issues like the Ram Mandir and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim expressed regret over ISF’s decision, emphasizing its potential impact on minority voter outreach for non-BJP parties.
West Bengal, with the third-highest Muslim electorate in India after Kashmir and Assam, saw TMC secure 29 parliamentary seats, BJP 12, and Congress one out of the 42 seats in the state.
