Cooch Behar (West Bengal) [India], April 17 : As the Bharatiya Janata Party is gearing up to contest the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal with full might, aiming to further expand its footprint, the Cooch Behar constituency presents a strong contest, with BJP's sitting MP up against two major candidates.
Notably, despite being a part of the INDIA bloc, TMC and Congress are not in any seat-sharing agreement in the state. As a result, both parties have named their candidates from the seat.
The Cooch Behar seat is currently held by BJP. Nisith Pramanik, who is serving as the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports at the centre, won the seat in 2019.
He has been repeated by the BJP. This time he has up against TMC's Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia. However, Congress has also fielded Piya Roy Chowdhury from the seat.
Earlier this week, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a rally in Cooch Behar and urged the voters to remove the BJP from power to "protect the country's independence", adding that if the BJP wins that there will be no elections.
"I am clearly saying, remember, this election is not an ordinary election, all of India has understood today, you also understand, if you want to protect the freedom of the country, then remove BJP, save the country, remember, otherwise there will be no freedom in the country," she said at a rally in Cooch Behar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also held a public meeting in Cooch Behar earlier this month and attacked the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal for "protecting the accused" in the Sandeshkhali incidents that rocked the state.
He asserted that only BJP can stop atrocities against women, adding that the party has resolved to ensure punishment for the accused in the Sandeshkhali incidents.
"Here TMC, Leftists and Congress might look like they're fighting each other, but behind the curtains, they are all partners in Delhi. They want to save those involved in ration scams, and teacher recruitment scams. Bundles of notes were recovered from the houses of TMC leaders. They want to save these leaders," he said.
"It is the BJP only that can stop atrocities against women here. The whole country has seen how the TMC government tried its best to protect the accused in Sandeshkhali. BJP has resolved to ensure punishment for the accused in the Sandeshkhali incident. They will have to spend their lives in jail," PM Modi added.
Polling in the 42 parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal will be held across all seven phases: April 19, April 26, May 4, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4.
Though the TMC is part of the INDIA bloc, it does not have a seat-sharing arrangement with the other parties in the alliance, like Congress and the Left parties in the state.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP marked a strong improvement, taking its tally from 2 in 2014 to 18 against the TMC's 22. The Congress's tally dropped to just 2 seats, while the Left scored a blank.