Tamluk: (Incumbent: Dibyendu Adhikari- TMC)
Former Calcutta High Court judge and BJP leader Abhijit Ganguly is leading by 60,208 votes leaving behind TMC's Debangshu Bhattacharya, the 'Khela Hobe' famed leader.
Once a Left bastion is now an intense field fought out between the Adhikaris and the Trinamool Congress. Tamluk Lok Sabha seat also has Nandigram as one of its Assembly segments, which has already shot to fame in the 2021 Assembly elections, when Subhendu Adhikari, after switching sides from the Trinamool to the BJP, defeated his challenger, Mamata Banerjee.
This time the BJP has fielded former judge of Calcutta High Court Abhijit Gangopadhyay from Tamluk and is hoping to cash in on his crusader or corruption image, following his series of orders, which led to several arrests in the SSC scam that has rocked the ruling dispensation.
The Trinamool Congress has nominated Debangshu Bhattacharya, a young gun of the party, who had penned the Khela Hobe slogan of TMC in 2021. The slogan resonated well, but will Debangshu be successful in making a mark in Tamluk, remains a big question. And to further spoil his broth, there is Sayan Banerjee of the CPIM.
Sayan is a young lawyer and a Left activist and if he manages to split the anti-BJP votes, which is heavily dominated by Subhendu, things could turn sour for Debangshu.
It is to be noted that CM Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari are the primary combatants in Tamluk, even though Debangshu and Ganguly are also in the fray. Adhikari emerged victorious over Banerjee in Nandigram, one of the seven assembly segments that make up Purba Medinipur's Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency, in the 2021 assembly elections.
To beat the BJP in Tamluk has turned into a prestige war for Mamata Banerjee. Suvendu also wants to take the seat from the TMC in order to tighten his hold on the district. The chief minister of West Bengal has promised to exact revenge on Nandigram for his historic loss.
