In TMC’s Diamond Harbour bastion, BJP pitches old-timer ‘Bobby da’ against Abhishek Banerjee

The BJP finally announced its candidate against Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in the Lok Sabha election Tuesday, fielding its veteran leader Abhijit Das from the Diamond Harbour constituency in West Bengal. Das was the former president of the BJP’s South 24 Parganas district unit.

The BJP had earlier already named its candidates for 41 out of the state’s total 42 Lok Sabha constituencies, leaving the Diamond Harbour seat as the party leadership was deliberating about its face against Abhishek, the nephew of Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who is the TMC’s No. 2.

The Left Front, which has an alliance with the Congress, has fielded the CPI(M)’s youth leader Pratikur Rahman from the TMC stronghold.

Abhishek has been winning the Diamond Harbour seat, which largely spreads over South 24 Parganas district adjoining Kolkata, for consecutive two terms since 2014.

By fielding Das, the BJP is looking to use his organisational experience in the South 24 Parganas district. Das, known as “Bobby da” among the BJP workers, is considered a prominent face of the party in the district where the principal Opposition is believed to be on a weak wicket. Apart from being a political leader, Bobby is know for his social work.

Das, who has an RSS background, had first contested the Lok Sabha polls on the BJP ticket from Diamond Harbour in 2009, when he came a distant third.

The BJP had again fielded Das from the same constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, when Abhishek made a successful debut, clinching the seat by garnering 40.31% votes while Das again came third securing 15.92% votes. The CPI(M)’s Abul Hasnat finished as the runner-up, getting 34.66% votes.

In the 2019 polls, the BJP did not