West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday that the demography of Bhowanipore assembly constituency in south Kolkata was being deliberately changed by bringing in outsiders. Banerjee is likely to contest from Bhowanipore in the 2026 assembly elections.
“Bhowanipore is being gradually filled up by bringing in outsiders and this is being done in a well-planned manner. By mentioning outsiders, I am not referring to those who are residents of West Bengal. People (from outside) are coming here and purchasing land and constructing houses. They are giving money to locals and then leaving,” she said without naming anyone.
The Bhowanipore assembly constituency is a stronghold of the ruling-Trinamool Congress (TMC) from where party convenor Banerjee has been winning since 2011. Her residence in Kalighat is also within the Bhowanipore constituency.
“In many areas, the slums of the poor are being demolished to give way to high-rises. I don’t support this. As a result, our voters are being driven away. We can build houses for them (slum dwellers) under the state-funding housing scheme,” she added.
Banerjee was addressing a public gathering via phone in Bhowanipore. The chief minister is presently in north Bengal to take stock of the flood situation.
“Why can’t we understand that the party and the poor people are our foremost priorities. The citizens are our treasure,” she added.
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In 2021, Banerjee swept the Bhowanipore by-election beating Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Priyanka Tibrewal by a margin of 58,835 votes. In 2021, she lost the Nandigram seat in the assembly election.
In 2011, when Banerjee led the TMC to end the Left Front’s 34-year-long regime, she won the Bhawanipore bypoll with 54,213 votes. A voter turnout of less than 45% was recorded in that election.
In 2016, when the voter turnout was 66.83%, Banerjee defeated Congress candidate Deepa Dasmunsi by 25,301 votes.
“We would ensure that she wins by a margin of one lakh votes from Bhowanipore (in the 2026 assembly polls),” Firhad Hakim, state minister and mayor of Kolkata said while addressing the gathering.
The BJP, however, said that Banerjee has doubts whether she can win from Bhowanipore in the 2026 assembly.
“She is afraid. She has doubts that she may lose from Bhowanipore. That’s why she is saying all these. High-rises are coming up all over the city and in other cities too. We haven’t heard of any complaints being lodged against forceful eviction in her constituency so far. Then why is she making such remarks? Because she knows very well that the people who are settling there are not afraid of TMC goons,” said BJP leader Rahul Sinha.
