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Rashbehari Battle: TMC's Debasish Kumar vs BJP's Swapan Dasgupta in Key Kolkata Seat

The Rashbehari constituency in Kolkata is set for a fierce contest between Trinamool Congress incumbent Debasish Kumar and BJP candidate Swapan Dasgupta. The seat has been a TMC stronghold since 2011, previously held by Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay. Key campaign issues include the Kalighat Temple, the new Skywalk, and TMC's Lakshmi Bhandar welfare scheme for women. Kumar faces challenges including an ED summons, while the BJP has deployed top leaders like Amit Shah to campaign for Dasgupta.

Key Points: Rashbehari Constituency: TMC vs BJP in West Bengal Polls

  • TMC bastion since 2011
  • BJP fields ex-Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta
  • Kalighat Temple & Skywalk central to campaign
  • Lakshmi Bhandar scheme targets women voters
3 min read

Rashbehari turns into battleground as TMC's Debasish Kumar aims to save party bastion against BJP's Swapan Dasgupta

Kolkata's Rashbehari sees a high-stakes fight between TMC's Debasish Kumar and BJP's Swapan Dasgupta. Key issues include Kalighat Temple, Lakshmi Bhandar, and ED case.

"The BJP is backing Dasgupta to add to its seat tally. - Report"

Kolkata, April 20

The Rashbehari constituency in Kolkata is geared up for an intense contest between sitting Trinamool Congress MLA Debasish Kumar and the Bharatiya Janata Party's journalist-turned-politician Swapan Dasgupta.

The Rashbehari seat has been a TMC bastion since its formation in 2011. Even before the 2011 delimitation, the TMC had control over the Rashbehari Avenue seat with four-time MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay.

Chattopadhyay had ended a two-decade-long Congress and Hoimi Basu's rule in the constituency in 2001. He held the seat till 2016 before contesting and winning from Bhabanipur, only to pave the way for Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee in the bye-elections. He is now on to contest the 2026 polls from the Ballygunge seat.

In the 2021 elections, Debasish Kumar won the seat by a margin of 21,414 (17.4 per cent) votes against the BJP leader Lt. Gen. Subrata Saha.

Kumar is up against self-proclaimed conservative and right-wing intellectual and former Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta. He contested the last elections from Tarakeswar, where he faced defeat against TMC's Ramendu Sinharay by a margin of 7,484 votes.

However, this time the BJP is backing Dasgupta to add to its seat tally. Union Minister Amit Shah and Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, held a road show to appeal for votes in Rashbehari as Swapan Dasgupta filed his nomination.

One of the 51 Shakti Peethas, the Kalighat Temple near Rashbehari, is in the centre of the high-voltage political contest. While Swapan Dasgupta visited the temple on April 7 to counter the BJP's Hindutva plank, the TMC is banking on the construction of the iconic Kalighat Skywalk.

CM Mamata Banerjee had inaugurated the Kalighat Skywalk in April 2025, paving the way to the temple.

Women make up a large number of voters in the constituency. Apart from the infrastructure development, the TMC is pushing its Lakshmi Bhandar scheme to woo women electors. Under the Lakshmi Bhandar scheme, women in the general category will receive Rs 1,500 per month, SC/ST women Rs 1,700, and unemployed youth will get Rs 1,500 as pocket money.

Even after that, the electoral road is not easy for Debasish Kumar, who has faced an Enforcement Directorate (ED) summon in connection with a land-grabbing case. This month, the Income Tax department also conducted a search in locations linked to him.

For Congress, Ashutosh Chatterjee is giving a re-attempt to the contest in Rashbehari after he could muster only 8.4 per cent of the total votes in the last elections. Congress could not win a single seat in the last elections, and Ashutosh Chatterjee would aim to change it this time around.

The Rashbehari constituency will hold polling in the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections on April 29. The first phase of polling will take place on April 23, with counting of votes on May 4.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

R
Rohit P
Interesting to see Swapan Dasgupta contesting here. He's an intellectual voice, but does he understand the ground realities of Rashbehari? The ED and IT issues against Kumar are concerning, but we've seen TMC deliver here for over a decade. Tough choice! 🤔
A
Aman W
The visit to Kalighat Temple feels like political tokenism. Development should be the real issue. The Skywalk is a good project, but what about traffic congestion and waste management in the constituency? Both candidates need to talk about these daily problems.
S
Sarah B
Watching from outside Bengal, this is a fascinating microcosm of Indian politics. A sitting MLA with legal clouds vs. a journalist-politician trying to make inroads. The focus on women voters and temple politics is a classic blend of identity and welfare politics.
V
Vikram M
Respectfully, the article highlights a problem. Why is someone facing ED and IT searches still the candidate? Regardless of party, we deserve representatives with unquestionable integrity. The Congress candidate seems like a non-factor, which is unfortunate for democracy.
K
Kavya N
My family has lived here for generations. Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay did good work. Kumar has maintained that, but the area needs more youth employment initiatives. The pocket money scheme is a start. Hope whoever wins brings more IT parks or skill centers nearby.

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