The battle of next gen: TMC banks on legacy name as Left turns to its next big hope Minakshi

Uttarpara, once an industrial hub that produced the much-famed Ambassador cars until 2014 at the Hindustan Motors factory, is now witnessing a high-pitched campaign as the Left attempts to reclaim its erstwhile stronghold from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) with one of its younger faces. The seat, which goes to the polls in the second phase on April 29, is set for a contest between legacy and youth. The TMC has fielded Sirsanya Banerjee, son of party veteran and MP Kalyan Banerjee, while the CPI(M) has nominated its Central Committee member Minakshi Mukherjee. The BJP has fielded former security force official Dipanjan Chakraborty, whose claims of being associated with the NSG and R&AW are under dispute. “Uttarpara’s location is strategic. It serves as a gateway to western Bengal. It is also culturally rich, with historical ties to illustrious families like the Tagores. I am confident of victory,” Sirsanya says. On the other hand, Mukherjee has targeted the TMC over crumbling infrastructure, particularly in the health and education sectors. “In this constituency, which has 290 booths, 22 schools are on the ‘merger list’. They risk shutting down as they have fewer than 30 students,” Mukherjee says. Both Sirsanya and Mukherjee speak about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The TMC candidate, pointing to the constituency’s roughly 2% minority population, claimed that alleged harassment during the exercise could backfire on the Opposition BJP. Mukherjee, however, targeted both the TMC and the BJP over the issue. “In the guise of removing ‘fake voters’, people have been left in limbo. Both the TMC and the BJP are on the same page on this issue,” she says. Uttarpara saw around 32,000 voters deleted during the SIR. While political parties focus on larger questions, basic amenities remain a key concern for voters. “Look at the condition of the roads here—there are potholes everywhere. Any government that stays in power for 15 years starts taking voters for granted,” says Suman Guho, a resident of the Konnagar area. Street food vendor Sukhdeb Das expressed concern over diminishing employment opportunities for educated youth. Sirsanya dismissed these concerns, claiming that over two crore jobs have been generated since the TMC came to power in 2011. “We are among the top states in the MSME sector,” he says. Not all voters appear dissatisfied. A local shopkeeper, requesting anonymity, pointed to improvements in law and order under the TMC. “There was a time when murders, dacoity and theft were common. We hardly see such incidents now. I have seen elections here since 1986—this is proving to be the most unpredictable one,” he says. A predominantly urban constituency, Uttarpara elected a CPI(M) MLA for nine consecutive terms until 2011, when TMC’s Anup Ghosal, riding on Mamata Banerjee’s “poriborton (change)” wave, won by a margin of over 43,000 votes. The TMC retained the seat in 2016 through Prabir Kumar Ghosal, though with a reduced margin of around 12,000 votes. Ghosal later switched to the BJP ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls, where he lost to the TMC’s Kanchan Mullick by over 35,000 votes. The CPI(M) was pushed to third place. Sweety Kumari is a seasoned journalist reporting from West Bengal for The Indian Express. Wit... Read More