The Aryavarth Express
Agency(West Bengal): In the northern Bengal district of Cooch Behar, the political landscape has undergone significant changes since junior Union minister and BJP incumbent Nisith Pramanik secured nearly 32% of the votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, defeating the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Despite the TMC’s landslide victory in the 2021 state polls, the BJP maintains a stronghold in Cooch Behar, holding five out of the seven assembly segments.
Pramanik, a former TMC youth leader who joined the BJP after his expulsion following the 2018 panchayat polls, stunned his nearest TMC rival Paresh Adhikary by over 54,000 votes in the 2019 general elections. In 2021, he was appointed as the Minister of State for Home, Youth Affairs, and Sports in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet reshuffle, becoming the youngest member at the age of 35.
In the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Pramanik will face Jagadish Barma Basunia, TMC’s face of the Rajbanshi community and the sitting MLA of Sitai, as his primary challenger. The nomination pattern in Cooch Behar has nearly sounded the death knell for a Left-Congress overall alliance in Bengal, with both sides fielding their candidates amidst ongoing seat-sharing talks.
Dinhata, the home turf of both Pramanik and his arch-rival TMC’s Udayan Guha, has been a hotspot of political violence over the years. The March 19 clashes at Dinhata Bazar between followers of the two sides have raised apprehensions of further confrontations in the region.
The handling of ethnic issues concerning the scheduled caste Rajbanshi community, with some members demanding a separate state of Greater Cooch Behar, has been similar for both TMC and BJP. The TMC has reached out to the community by naming Bangshibadan Burman as the chairman of the Rajbanshi Language Academy and Rajbanshi Development Board, while the BJP awarded a Rajya Sabha membership to Ananta Maharaj, a leader of another faction.
Cooch Behar remains buried under layers of political complexities and apprehensions of poll-related violence, which are likely to influence both voter turnout and candidate preferences. The seat goes to polls on April 19, with 24.5 lakh voters set to cast their ballots at 2,043 polling stations.
The outcome of the Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat will depend on how the various factions within the Rajbanshi community align themselves and how effectively the candidates navigate the complex political dynamics of the region while addressing the concerns of the community and the electorate at large.
