West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the Jain Man Pillar and Sant Kutia Gate in her constituency of Bhabanipur. This strategic move, just before the elections, aims to draw the Gujarati, Punjabi, and Jain communities of the area closer to her corner. Since the start of the SIR process on the Bhabanipur seat, Didi has conducted two significant meetings with booth level agents.
The first meeting took place when it was revealed that 44,000 voter's names were being omitted, and the second meeting occurred recently at her residence in Kalighat. In these meetings, Mamata Banerjee gave strict instructions to the agents to go 'door-to-door' to verify genuine voters and ensure ‘man marking’.
Following her defeat in Nandigram in 2021, Mamata Banerjee made a comeback by winning the by-election at Bhabanipur. This time, she is determined not to leave any stone unturned.
The Intriguing Demographic and Voting Patterns of Bhabanipur
The Bhabanipur constituency has a vibrant and intriguing demographic, which can be primarily divided into three parts. Here, approximately 40% are Bengali voters, while 40% are Hindi-speaking voters, including Bihari, Marwari, Gujarati, and Sikh communities. The remaining 20% are Muslim voters. Traditionally, Marwari and Gujarati voters tend to lean towards the BJP, which is why Mamata Banerjee is making strong efforts to win them over through religious symbols.
Source: aajtak
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BJP's Rising Graph Over a Decade
While Bhabanipur has remained a stronghold for TMC, statistics over the past decade indicate a persistent strengthening of the BJP's influence. In 2011, the BJP received only 5,078 votes on this seat, but the numbers surged past 47,000 during the Modi wave in 2014. During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, TMC candidate Mala Roy managed to retain a mere lead of 3,168 votes here. Moreover, in the 2015 municipal elections, the BJP surprised everyone by winning Ward No. 70 of Bhabanipur.
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Fluctuations in Mamata Banerjee's Victory Margin
After coming to power for the first time in 2011, Mamata Banerjee contested from Bhabanipur in the by-election, securing a victory by a margin of about 54,000 votes. However, in the 2016 assembly elections, this margin fell to 25,000. Later, in the 2021 assembly elections, TMC's Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay defeated BJP's Rudranil Ghosh by 28,000 votes. These changes in the winning margin have prompted Mamata Banerjee to become more cautious, focusing on booth management and appealing to various voter segments.
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Strategic Edge and 'Man Marking'
The Chief Minister is now intensively focusing on booth level strategies. She has delivered clear instructions to her agents to visit every home and ensure that no genuine voter's name is omitted from the list. The construction of the Jain Man Pillar and Sant Kutia Gate sends a clear signal – Didi is keen to win over voters traditionally seen as BJP sympathizers.
