West Bengal Assembly Elections: TMC bastion under threat as BJP veteran Swapan Dasgupta takes on Debasish Kumar in Rashbehari
Rashbehari seat has been a TMC stronghold since its formation in 2011. Even before the 2011 delimitation, the TMC had control over the Rashbehari Boulevard seat with four-time MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay.
Chattopadhyay had ended two decades of Congress and Hoimi Basu’s rule in the constituency in 2001. She held the seat till 2016 before contesting and winning from Bhabanipur, but only to pave the way for Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee in the bye elections. He will now contest the 2026 polls from Ballygunge seat.
In the 2021 elections, Debasish Kumar won the seat with 21,414 (17.4 per cent) votes against BJP leader Lt. Gen. Subrata Saha.
Kumar is opposing Swapan Dasgupta, a self-proclaimed conservative and right-wing intellectual and former Rajya Sabha MP. He had contested the last elections in Tarakeswar, where he was defeated by TMC’s Ramendu Sinharay by a margin of 7,484 votes.
But this time, the BJP is backing Dasgupta to increase its seat count. Union Minister Amit Shah and Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari staged a road show to contest votes in Rashbehari while filing Swapan Dasgupta’s nomination.
Kalighat Temple near Rashbehari, one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, is at the center of high-voltage political conflict. While Swapan Dasgupta will visit the temple on April 7 to counter the Hindutva planks of the BJP, TMC is investing in the construction of the iconic Kalighat Skywalk. CM Mamata Banerjee had opened the road to the temple by inaugurating the Kalighat Skywalk in April 2025.
Women constitute a large proportion of voters in the constituency. Apart from infrastructure development, TMC is also pushing the Lakshmi Bhandar scheme to woo women voters. Under the Lakshmi Bhandar scheme, general category women will be given Rs 1,500 per month, SC/ST women will be given Rs 1,700 and unemployed youth will be given Rs 1,500 as pocket money.
Even after this, the election path is not easy for Debasish Kumar, who is facing Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons in connection with a land grabbing case. This month, the Income Tax Office also searched places linked to him.
Ashutosh Chatterjee, on behalf of the Congress, is re-engaging in the contest from Rashbehari as he was able to garner only 8.4 per cent of the total votes in the last elections. Congress failed to win even a single seat in the last elections and Ashutosh Chatterjee aims to change the situation this time.
Rashbehari constituency will vote on April 29 in the second phase of West Bengal Assembly elections. The first phase of voting will be held on April 23 and the votes will be counted on May 4.
