Amid much fanfare and distribution of sweets to celebrate Trinamul Congress’ thumping majority in the recently concluded general election, the dismal performance of the party in north Bengal has come as a grave concern.
In north Bengal out of eight Lok Sabha seats, Trinamul Congress has bagged only one. The eight seats are Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Raiganj, Balurghat and Malda.
Union minister of state for home affairs Nisit Pramanick was defeated by Jagadish Chandra Basunia of Trinamul Congress in Cooch Behar. In Darjeeling, Raju Bista, the sitting MP was elected for the second time. Sukanta Majumdar, state BJP president was elected from Balurghat. In Raiganj, the saffron party replaced Debashree Chowdhury, the sitting MP. Mrs Chowdhury fought against Mala Roy in south Kolkata and was defeated. However, Kartick Chandra Pal of BJP won the Raiganj seat. Isha Khan Chowdhury was elected from Malda south seat while Khagen Murmu of BJP won the Malda North seat. BJP won 12 seats in Bengal, six from north Bengal and six from south Bengal.
Senior Trinamul Congress leaders said the party will analyze the poll debacle in north Bengal.
Political experts said Miss Mamata Banerjee had addressed at least two public meetings and taken part in road shows in all the constituencies. The election in North Bengal was held in the first two phases on 19 and 26 April. She was confident to win more seats in North Bengal. Experts asked if she failed to read the minds of the people or there was massive cross voting and inter party squabbles.
It may be mentioned that in 2021 when Trinamul got 213 seats it had failed to bag even a seat in Alipurduar. The experts said the RSS is very active in the border areas of Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Raiganj and Balurghat. The towns have been improved but the people felt that development in rural areas is not up to the mark.
It is to be seen how Trinamul leadership addresses the issues and improves organizational strength in north Bengal.