KOLKATA: The mercury is rising in Asansol. The city in West Bengal’s coal belt is not only in the middle of a scorching summer, but also about to witness an intense Lok Sabha by-poll battle between a Bollywood star and a fashion designer on April 12.
Eying a first victory in this constituency, Trinamool Congress has fielded Shatrughan Sinha. And, in an attempt to retain the seat where it has won the two previous elections, BJP has opted for Agnimitra Paul. The seat has been vacated by singer Babul Supriyo, who defected to TMC after having won on a BJP ticket in 2019. This is a seat with a considerable number of non-Bengali voters.
The TMC is desperate to win. Party chief Mamata Banerjee will hold a roadshow on April 10. “Asansol is a big challenge for her. TMC has not lost after coming to power for a third straight term in 2021. In by elections in four Assembly seats, TMC won all and snatched two from BJP. Asansol has become a prestige issue,” said a senior TMC leader. “Fielding Sinha is a move to impress the non-Bengali voters who supported BJP in 2019,” he added.
Citing the 2019 elections when Supriyo defeated TMC’s candidate and actress Moon Moon Sen, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said the move to field another star would be rejected by the voters. “She accused us of being outsiders. This time, she has fielded an outsider. People will not accept it,’’ he said.
Supriyo, too, will be fighting on April 12, from the Ballygunge Assembly seat which is vacant following the death of TMC’s Subrata Mukherjee.
A seat TMC has never captured
From 1957 to 1967, Asansol belonged to Congress. From 1967 to 1971, it was under the control of Samyukta Socialist Party. From 1971 to 1980, CPI(M) held the seat before Congress made a comeback which continued till 1989. From then till 2014, the seat belonged to CPI(M). BJP emerged as the new force in the coal belt for the first time in 2014