Bengal: TMC ended CPI(M) run in Bishnupur after 43 years in 2014 but lost MP to BJP

Kolkata, April 13: The schedule for the 17th Lok Sabha election was announced by the Election Commission on Sunday, March 10. The election will be held in seven phases between April 11 and May 19 with the results to be declared on May 23. Of all the states in the country, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh will witness elections in seven phases.

Here we take a look at all the Lok Sabha constituencies (42) of Bengal and how parties have fared there over the years.

Constituency: BISHNUPUR (SC)

Date of election: May 12 (Phase 6)

The Bishnupur Lok Sabha constituency is a reserved seat located in Bankura district and comprises the following segments: Barjora, Onda, Bishnupur (SC), Kotulpur (SC), Indas (SC), Sonamukhi (SC) and Khandaghosh (SC) which is in East Burdwan district.

What happened in 2014:

Former TMC leader Saumitra Khan won from this seat last time polling 5.78 lakh votes. He defeated his nearest rival Susmita Bauri of the CPI(M), the sitting MP, by 1.49 lakh votes while the BJP's Joyanta Mandal ended up third with 1.79 lakh votes. The Congress's Narayan Chandra Khan got 27k votes.

Total electors in Bishnupur constituency in 2014 were almost 14.62 lakh.

Vote share:

The TMC's vote-share in 2014 was 45.50 per cent while the Left secured 33.74 per cent. The BJP got 14.11 per cent vote share and the Congress finished with 2.13 per cent.

History of Bishnupur constituency results: TMC wrested what was a CPI(M) stronghold since 1980

The Congress had won the first two general elections from Bishnupur (1962 and 1967) but it was the CPI(M) ever since, winning 11 elections from the seat between 1971 and 2014 when the TMC ended their dominance.

Candidates contesting from Bishnupur in 2019:

• TMC: Shyamal Santra;
• Left: Sunil Khan;
• BJP: Saumitra Khan;
• Congress: Narayan Chandra Khan