Bengal bypolls: Naihati Assembly to see new Left equation

Kolkata, Oct 30 (IANS) The bypoll to the Naihati Assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal scheduled next month has gained significance after the formation of a new equation in the Left politics in the state. 

The Left Front has foregone its claim in Naihati, an erstwhile stronghold of the CPI(M), in favour of CPI(M-L).

Political observers feel that the Naihati example can in future prove to be the stepping stone of the much talked about theory of “Bigger Left Platform: in the state,

However, the leadership of CPI(M) has its own logic behind this Naihati experiment.

Although CPI(M-L) is not an official constituent of the Left Front in West Bengal, in neighbouring Bihar both CPI(M) and CPI have a sustained electoral understanding with the CPI(ML). The 2020 Bihar Assembly elections saw CPI(M-L), CPI and CPI(M) becoming the constituents of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan,

In the Naihati bypoll, the CPI(M-L) has fielded Debajyoti Majumdar. His closest contestants are Trinamool Congress’ Sanat Dey, BJP’s Rupak Mitra and Congress’ Paresh Nath Sarkar.

Naihati is going to the bypoll since the three-time erstwhile Trinamool Congress legislator from there Partha Bhowmik got elected as the party Lok Sabha member from the Barrackpore constituency in North 24 Parganas district in the general elections this year.

For a long time from 1977 to 2006, Naihati was a stronghold of CPI(M) with party candidates getting elected five consecutive times from there except in 1987 and 1991 when Congress candidate Tarun Adhikari got elected for two consecutive terms

The power equation at Naihati totally changed in 2011, when Trinamool Congress’ Partha Bhowmik got elected from there for the first time. Bhowmik was re-elected both in 2016 and 2021.

Naihati was once a thriving industrial belt in North 24 Parganas district because of the presence of several jute mills and some engineering units. The constituency has a mixed population of Bengali and non-Bengali-speaking voters. The total number of voters is a little less than two lakh.