On way to Modi 3.0 ..... Diamond Harbour and Sandeshkhali in Basirhat voting today :::: In Varanasi people debate margin in favour of Modi

In West Bengal voting takes place in politically sensitive Diamond Harbour. Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata Banerjee's powerful nephew Abhishek Banerjee is seeking re-election. He won the seat in 2014 and 2019.

In 2024, 'Bhaipo' is locked in a triangular contest against CPI(M) nominee Pratikur Rahaman and BJP's Bobby Kumar Das.  

In 2019, Abhishek had polled 791,127 votes making it 56.15 per cent. Nilanjan Roy of BJP was his nearest rival having polled 470,533 - that is 33.39 per cent of votes. Notably, BJP's vote share had increased by 17 per cent compared to the Lotus party performance in 2014.

CPI(M) candidate Dr Fuad Halim could manage just 93,941 votes -- that is only 6.67 per cent.

Basirhat is a keenly watched parliamentary constituency in West Bengal this year as the headline hunter place Sandeshkhali falls under this. 

Trinamool Congress has been winning it since 2009. Haji Nurul Islam won the seat in 2009; then it passed on to Idris Ali in 2014 and the incumbent MP is actress Nusrat Jahan. 

She is not contesting this time.

This year, TMC nominee is Haji Nurul Islam and he is pitted against CPI(M)'sNirapada Sardar, ISF nominee Akhtar Rahaman Biswas and BJP's  Rekha Patra. The exploitation of women by Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan, 

now in custody, is the main election issue.

In fact, Sandeshkhali controversy has hit hard Trinamool's 'Maa, Maati, Manush' image severely.

On the last day of polling for the big battle of 2024 -- keenly watched globally - polling of votes is being conducted also in Varanasi -- from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking re-election for the third time in a row.

Blogger 

 

Elections are being held in 

Uttar Pradesh: 13 segments - Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushi Nagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, 

Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Robertsganj 

Punjab: 13 -- Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Khadoor Sahib, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Anandpur 

Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Firozpur, Bathinda, Sangrur, Patiala

West Bengal: 9 --  Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, 

Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin, Kolkata Uttar

Bihar - 8 - Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Arrah, Buxar, Sasaram, Karakat, 

Jahanabad 

Odisha: 6 -- Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur

Himachal Pradesh: 4 --  Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur, Shimla

Jharkhand: 3 -- Rajmahal, Dumka, Godda

Chandigarh: 01 

Varanasi has a unique history of political representation

The grand old party, Congress, represented the constituency 7 terms making it -- 41.18% per cent while BJP also won it for seven terms (41.18 percent), The communists CPI-M had won it once and similarly one term each went to Janata Party and Janata Dal.

Notably, in 1977, no less than Janata Party stalwart and a die-hard anti-Indira leader Chandra Shekhar had won the seat. It has been won by the likes of Kamalapathi Tripathi (Congress in 1980), Anil Shastri (Janata Dal) and also Dr Murli Manohor Joshi (BJP in 2009).

In 1967, Satya Narain Singh had won the seat for Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Some youths jokingly describe the eastern Uttar Pradesh sub-region as "Modi's workshop" and one of them explains that this region since the last 10 years is finding a new rhythm of developmental works, improvements in roads and at the same there is a great awakening happening culturally and in religious learning.

Some political strategists find these eastern UP constituencies a testing ground in a general sense to check how 'neo-Hindutva politics' along with welfarism would work. "Slowly, people are uniting and divisive policies are being rejected," said one Hindu shopkeeper.

However, Muslims complain against banning of cow slaughter and meat business. "We are dreaming that as country's Prime Minister is representing our region; this area will also turn modern, self-satisfactory, self-reliant and multicultural," says Yasmin Farheen, an office goer. 

She also adds, "We need to turn this region as education hub".  A college student endorses her views and adds, "My slogan is Jeetega bhai jeetega achha neta jeetega (only a good leader should win)," he screams - raising voice to be heard over the sound of music and some political announcements blaring from speakers.

ends