From a prestigious south Calcutta Assembly constituency to one represented by the chief minister, and now the seat where all eyes are fixed — Bhabanipur has changed in stature and attention in just five years.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee faces off against leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, once her party colleague and now among her fiercest adversaries.

The spotlight on Bhabanipur has not gone unnoticed by residents. “I know the entire state, and even the country, will be watching Bhowanipore in this Assembly election. It is a fight for prestige. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds in the next few weeks,” said a 53-year-old woman from Mohini Mohan Road.

A 50-year-old man from Bakul Bagan echoed similar sentiments. “Siddhartha Shankar Ray was an MLA from Bhabanipur, but that was decades ago. Most people of my generation did not see that era,” he said.

When the BJP announced Suvendu as its candidate for Bhabanipur on Monday, the stakes of the contest became clear. Walls in the area were quickly painted with his name from Monday evening.

In Chetla, Trinamool workers began writing graffiti for Mamata from Tuesday morning, hours before the party formally announced its candidates.

Across parties, local offices were abuzz.

The BJP opened a party office on Chakraberia Road (South) only a month ago. “We do not have a permanent office here. People are afraid to let us use any space because they fear reprisal by Trinamool. We used this space in 2021, but had to leave immediately after the polls,” said Timir Sarkar, a BJP leader in Bhowanipore.

The office also serves as the party’s central hub for the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency.

Ashim Basu, the Trinamool councillor of Ward 70, was upbeat. “Have no doubts. The chief minister will win by a bigger margin than last time. We will sit together and plan rallies and street corner meetings,” he said.

In the battle of heavyweights, many suspect the CPM campaign might struggle to attract attention. Party workers, however, insist they will highlight neglected issues.

“We will raise issues that matter to the people. We will ask whether the state government has been performing its duties, and the role of the Opposition,” said Bapi Bhattacharya, a CPM worker.

Mamata won from Bhabanipur in a bypoll in September 2021 by a margin of 58,835 votes, contesting after Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, who won in the Assembly elections earlier that year, vacated the seat for her. Chattopadhyay had won by 28,719 votes.

Mamata also won from Bhabanipur in 2011 and 2016.

In 2021, she also contested from Nandigram in East Midnapore and lost to Suvendu.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool led from Bhabanipur by only around 8,000 votes. The party led in only three wards in Bhowanipore.

The Bhabanipur Assembly constituency includes seven wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation — 63, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 77 and 82. Its boundary stretches from Bhowanipore-Chakraberia in the east to Alipore-Ekbalpore-Kidderpore in the west, Chetla in the south, and Maidan in the north.

Bhowanipore has changed significantly over the past two decades. Old large-family homes have given way to apartment complexes housing multiple families. Yet, the area has maintained its multicultural and cosmopolitan character. “You have Bengalis, Gujaratis, Sikhs, Sindhis, Marwaris and many other communities living here. There are industrialists in expensive bungalows as well as people in slums,” said a resident.