Kolkata Dakshin: A Lok Sabha Constituency That Never Disappointed Mamata Banerjee

The Kolkata Dakshin seat will go for polls on June 1 in Phase 7 of Lok Sabha elections 2024. The Kolkata Dakshin is called Mamata Banerjee”s fortress as no political party could breach the constituency since 1991.

Kolkata Dakshin which represents a cosmopolitan vote base as Badhralok Bengalis are spread in the constituency. The TMC supremo won the Kolkata Dakshin constituency on a Congress ticket in 1991 and later since 1998-99, she has won the constituency under the TMC banner until before taking up the state machinery in 2011. The Kolkata Dakshin Lok Sabha constituency won by Subrata Bakshi and Mala Roy in the subsequent elections.

Though the constituency is said to impregnable but BJP candidate Tathagata Roy added a whopping 21% additonal votes in party”s kitty in 2014. In the subsequent election the BJP vote share increased but the remained lesser in comparison to TMC candidate Mala Roy whose vote share got up more than the BJP”s.

Some of the factors have played a major role in Mamata Banerjee”s success here include the TMC”s welfare schemes for large section of slum dwellers, a significant proportion of Muslim population which is nearly 25% of the total population, an aversion to the Hindutava politics of BJP and nearly 35% middle class citizens who associates differently.

However, the corruption charges on Mamata Banerjee and the Sandeskhali case can play a major role in the TMC”s performance in the upcoming elections. The political analyst says that the TMC”s performance will be an audit of the state”s institutional delivery of welfare schemes.

Apart from the TMC”s performance in Kolkata Dakshin Mala Roy the sitting MP and the party candidate from the constituency said that people”s emotions for Mamata di, and her steadfastness in combating the opposition that marks a difference.