The sitting MLA from Jangipur Assembly constituency, Jakir Hossain of Trinamul Congress party had to be carried on a stretcher to file his nomination papers for contesting the election again from Jangipur.

He survived a criminal attack by bomb blast early this year at Nimtita railway station in Murshidabad district. The TMC contestant, now recuperating from his injuries, will take on Sujit Das of BJP and Jane Alam Mian of the Left Front for the polls to be held 30 September this year.

In order to retain his seat, Jakir Hossain, the former minister of state for labour in Mamata Banerjee government, left no stone unturned to reach out to the voters. With the growth of the BJP apparently at the cost of the Congress and the Left parties, the electoral equation underwent changes that were quite different from that of the previous election of 2016 when Jakir Hossain had defeated Somnath Singha Roy of CPIM by a margin of 20633 votes.

With the emergence of polarized politics and the erosion of the so-called secular vote banks of the Congress and the Left parties, the contest this time has turned out to be a straight fight between the BJP and the TMC said Sujit Das, the BJP candidate from Jangipur.

The question of security, law and order has always been a key issue at Jangipur, Das said adding the TMC candidate, Jakir Hossain himself is a blast victim who luckily survived the attack caused by the TMC infighting. “One armed guard has been given to me for my personal security”, the BJP contestant said.

Whisper campaigns on communal lines over NRC and CAA issues have made things sensitive, especially in areas along the Indo-Bangla borders in Murshidabad district, said the BJP leaders here. They expressed confidence that the TMC would trail behind BJP at Jangipur municipal town while there will be tough fight between the two parties at Ahiron and Bansabati areas of Suti-I block and Jamoria, Jarur, Mirjapur and Kanupur of Raghunathganj-I block.

The TMC may have advantage in areas like Raninagar, Durgapur etc where BJP organizations are weak, the BJP leaders here admitted. According to Jane Alam Mian of RSP who is contesting as the Left Front candidate from Jangipur, poverty and unemployment are key areas of concern.

Though the Congress has fielded no candidate at Jangipur, the Left and the Congress hardly could bring home the message of a strong alliance because the Congress has put up its candidate, Jaidur Rahaman at Samsherganj where Md. Mudassar Hossain of CPIM is also in the fray.

Jakir Hossain, a tobacco baron with hundreds of bidi workers on the rolls of his own company, was originally a Congress leader who joined politics when Pranab Mukherjee was an MP from Jangipur Lok Sabha constituency. Later on, he defected to TMC and became an MLA from Jangipur seat in 2016. He is known for his charity works like distribution of clothes among the poor on occasions like the Eid, Durga Puja festival etc.

A pro-incumbency factor that the TMC has already formed government with an overwhelming majority would also go in favour of the TMC candidate, said the BJP leaders. Moreover, the criminal attack on Jakir Hossain and his lucky survival is believed to have garnered sympathy votes in his favour.