Bengal: Trinamool ended Forward Bloc’s 37-year-run in Purulia constituency

Kolkata, April 15: 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: PURULIA

Date of election: May 12 (Phase 6)

The Purulia Lok Sabha constituency is located in Purulia district and comprises the following segments: Balarampur, Baghmundi, Joypur, Purulia, Manbazar (ST), Kashipur and Para (ST).

What happened in 2014:

Purulia went to TMC's Mriganki Mahato in 2014 who won against his nearest rival Narahari Mahato of the Forward Bloc by 1.53 lakh votes. The TMC candidate polled 4.68L votes as against the Forward Bloc candidate's 3.14 lakh votes. The Congress's Nepal Mahata received 2.57 lakh votes and the BJP's Bikash Banerjee ended fourth with 86.23k votes.

Total electors in Purulia constituency in 2014 were 14.66 lakh.

Vote share:

The TMC's vote-share in 2014 was 38.80 per cent while the Left got 26.07 per cent. The Congress got 21.38 per cent vote share and the BJP 7.16 per cent.

History of Purulia constituency results: TMC breached Forward Bloc bastion in 2014

The Forward Bloc had been winning the Purulia seat uninterruptedly since 1977 and the TMC eventually stalled its run in 2014.

Candidates contesting from Purulia in 2019:

TMC: Mriganka Mahato;

Left: Bir Singh Mahato;

BJP: Jyotirmoy Mahato;

Congress: Nepal Mahato