NEW DELHI: Sumana Sarkar of the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged victorious in the Balagarh constituency, securing 1,25,624 votes and defeating her nearest rival, Trinamool Congress candidate Ranjan Dhara, by a margin of 41,914 votes. Dhara managed to secure 83,710 votes in the closely watched contest.
Detailed Vote Count
The final tally revealed a clear lead for the BJP candidate. Following the top two contenders, CPI(M)'s Bikash Golder finished third with 10,175 votes. Other candidates included BSP's Harichand Majumdar with 1,803 votes, Congress's Ashok Biswas with 1,487 votes, and SUCI(C)'s Sukdeb Biswas with 1,372 votes.
Constituency Profile
Balagarh (constituency number 191) is a Scheduled Caste-reserved seat located in the Hooghly district. It forms part of the Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency. The constituency is overwhelmingly rural, with over 78 percent of its population residing in rural areas. The Scheduled Caste population constitutes a significant 40 percent of the total electorate, reflecting the seat's reserved category status. Geographically, the constituency covers the entire Balagarh community development block along with parts of the Chinsurah-Mogra block.
Historical Context
In the 2021 state elections, the TMC's Manoranjan Bapari, a celebrated Dalit author and social activist, won the seat by a narrow margin, with the BJP polling 43 percent of the vote. In 2016, the TMC's Ashim Kumar Majhi had won the seat. The high concentration of Scheduled Caste voters makes social welfare schemes a particularly important electoral issue in this constituency.
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