Sujit Bose 

Party: Trinamul Congress

Strength: Bose is the sitting MLA and has nursed the constituency well. He is popular at the grassroots level and is a known face in Salt Lake and the areas under South Dum Dum Municipality as he regularly attends local residents’ events.
He has a mass following. He has ensured that many clubs and block associations of Salt Lake benefited from the chief minister’s dole of Rs 2 lakh. He has given funds to several small clubs and block associations in his constituency from his MLA local area development fund also.

Weaknesses: The biggest chink in Bose’s armour this time is memories of October 3, when more than 50 residents and as many as 13 journalists were injured in poll violence. Bose was seen openly mobilising outsiders who unleashed terror on polling day in Salt Lake during the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation elections. The township had never witnessed such rampant electoral malpractices. Though he is often being heard apologising for “mistakes” in course of campaigning, voters are unlikely to forgive and forget.

There is also the anti-incumbency factor as civic services in Salt Lake have hit a new low despite the civic body getting corporation status.

In Dum Dum, Bose’s name has got linked with the filling up of the Nayanjuli water body, off VIP Road. Many residents allege that Bose was instrumental in the act at the behest of developers. His association with building material syndicate leaders, like Sindhu Kundu who was arrested on March 4 for threatening to gun down a contractor from Salt Lake if he did not buy construction materials from him, tarnishes Bose’s name.

Opportunities: Bose can reap the benefits of several development projects in Lake Town, Bangur and Dum Dum that he executed with his MLA local area development funds. The most visible among these is the clock tower resembling London’s Big Ben on VIP Road at the Lake Town crossing. The beautified banks along the canal from Lake Town to Dum Dum Park and renovation of parks in the area have been appreciated by residents.

He has also made promises of helping block associations with specific projects like air-conditioners and elevators for community centres if he is returned to the Assembly. 

The Modi wave which saw Bidhannagar siding with BJP in the Lok Sabha election in 2014, is on the wane. Bose and his party have been wooing the non-Bengali voters hard. 

Threats: The candidate fielded by the Congress-Left alliance, Arunava Ghosh, has just the kind of credentials that would impress the educated Bengali upper middle class voters of Salt Lake. Ghosh has been campaigning vigorously, armed with statistics of corruption cases against the TMC and flaunting his Presidency College background, bringing his lawyer’s gift of the gab to play. With Left support behind him, if he manages to bag a chunk of the BJP votes, Bose’s boat might get rocked. Bose would want the BJP votes not coming his way to stay with the BJP rather than a direct fight with the alliance.
 

Arunava Ghosh 

Party: Congress, backed by Left Front

Strengths: Arunava Ghosh is a high court lawyer and a familiar face on television debates. He is also known locally, being a resident of BC Block and because he has also fought several cases for the Salt Lake Welfare Association. 

Ghosh is known to be a strident critic of the state government. He has been particularly vocal about the Saradha chit fund scam and the Narada sting operation. A lot of domestic helps and vendors in the block markets lost money in the scam.

His clean image and educational background make him easily acceptable to the people of Salt Lake. 

He is enjoying the whole-hearted backing of the Left Front, whose leaders have helped organise his campaign. This unity is hard to match in a faction-ridden Trinamul Congress.

Weaknesses: Ghosh does not have the clout that his rival, the sitting MLA Sujit Bose, enjoys in the constituency. Congress workers are a handful here and his support base is not as large as Bose’s.

A section of residents may be wary of stepping out to vote at the slightest hint of disturbance, fearing a rerun of the violence that had rocked the civic elections last October. Last time, the Salt Lake Citizens’ Forum that advocates free and fair elections and of which he is a founding member, could do little to instill voters’ confidence in the face of violence. The forum was started a few months before the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation elections. 

Opportunities: Ghosh had joined the Trinamul Congress in its formative years and has an insider’s knowledge of the party. He had won on a Trinamul ticket from the Dum Dum constituency in 2001 but left the party in 2005. In his campaign speeches, he is recounting incidents and exchanges among the TMC party leadership with an eyewitness’s authority. 

The anti-incumbency sentiment of the people against the state government will work in his favour as would memories of the corporation elections of October. 

The fact that the elections will be held under the watch of the central forces will brighten his chances.

Threats: If there is a repeat of the civic poll violence on Monday, the Left Front does not have the muscle power to counter it.

If the votes of the Hindi-speaking population of the township that account for nearly 33 per cent in Salt Lake and more than 15 per cent in the South Dum Dum wards get divided between the BJP and Bose then it will be a tough fight for Ghosh.

Sujit Bose enjoys immense popularity in his areas like Sreebhumi, Lake Town, Dum Dum and Bangur. Ghosh is on a backfoot there.


Rajarhat-New Town

Sabyasachi Dutta

Party: Trinamul Congress 

Strengths: Dutta enjoys immense popularity in the semi-urban areas of New Town such as Jatragachhi, Jyangra and Narayanpur.

He is alleged to control several construction material supply syndicates in the area and wields immense clout. He is also reported to have ample muscle power at his disposal.

As the standing MLA, he is quite well-known in the area.

Dutta has also been able to give jobs to people of the area as security guards, parking lot supervisors or solid waste management labourers who work for the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA).

Weaknesses: In some areas of New Town, Dutta has failed to carry out notable development work. This is in marked contrast to the rapid urbanisation and development work the planned areas of New Town have seen over the past five years, thanks to Hidco.

The problems of voters living in the highrises of New Town and those residing in bordering villages are as different as chalk and cheese.

While urban voters, tired of syndicates and their infightings, demand cleaner air and roads clear of dumped construction materials, the voters in the rural belt ask for clean drinking water and metalled roads that connect their villages with the rest of New Town. Lack of public transport also makes access difficult.

Areas under Patharghata, Ghuni, Sulanguri, Chandpur and Panapukur have seen little or no development. Chinar Park witnessed massive waterlogging last monsoon. 

Opportunities: Dutta will cash in on the votes of his supporters and their families who benefit directly from the construction syndicates. As many as six panchayats like Jyangra-Hatiara, Rajarhat Bishnupur 1 and Rajarhat Bishnupur 2 are Trinamul-controlled, as is all of Patharghata.

His suave image and proximity to the Hindi-speaking community will work in the highrises of New Town.

Threats: Dutta’s recent comments openly backing syndicates have not been taken well by both his partymen and the residents.

There is infighting among his supporters and those owing allegiance to MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.

The supporters of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation deputy chairman Tapas Chatterjee, who has been practically sidelined by the TMC, also might not vote for him. 
 

Narendranath Chatterjee

Party: CPM, backed by Congress

Strengths: Recognised as an old hand in the CPM, Narendranath is an able administrator. Known in local party circles as close to the erstwhile Rajarhat Municipality boss Tapas Chatterjee, he knows the lay of the land like the back of his palm.

A good communicator, he maintains a low profile, is easily approachable and has a relatively clean image.

Weaknesses: He is not a grassroots-level leader. Neither is he known to be involved in active field politics. 

Opportunities: Buzz is Tapas Chatterjee’s followers may vote in his favour. The former civic chief, despite shifting to Trinamul, has not been given any electoral responsibilities by his new party and his supporters are not too happy about it.

The area is known to be a Red fortress and the seat had withstood the TMC onslaught in the 2011 Assembly elections.
There is also a chance that supporters of MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar might not back Dutta on poll day.

Threats: The syndicates might tilt the power scales in Dutta’s favour.