It's CPI(M) all the way in Darjeeling No upset in Darjeeling Midnapore Still with Indrajit Gupta Again Midnapore for CPI Trinamool Manifesto Howlers and howlers DiDi Relinquishing the DoctorHood

Santanu Dey

Of the general alliance that the BJP and Trinamool Congress struck last time, one of the two exceptions was Midnapore. After much water has flowed, the two parties have forged an alliance here this time but the BJP candidate Manoranjan Dutta is not having a peaceful sleep. After all, this is Midnapore.

In 1977, the Janata Party candidate Sudhir Ghosal won with Left Front support defeating the CPI's Narayan Choubey. In 1980, with the CPI in the Front, Ghosal was trounced by Choubey himself who contested on a Front ticket. And that too, by a margin of over a lakh votes.

Obviously, the people had voted for the policies of the Front. That tradition has continued with the constituency returning Front candidates ever since 1977.Indeed, even in 1984, after the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the sympathy wave stopped here and Choubey won yet again with a huge margin of over 56,000 votes. Since 1989, however, Indrajit Gupta has been representing this seat. He has increased his margin of victory by wider levels every time for the four consecutive times that he has been elected from Midnapore. The margin now stands at over 2.75 lakhs.

Last time, both the Trinamool and the BJP had set up candidates and Gupta got 49.69 per cent of the votes. Nitish Sengupta of the Trinamool got 28.53 per cent while the BJP's Manoranjan Sengupta got 12.32 per cent. Even if the Trinamool and BJP vote shares are added up this time due to the alliance, even then Gupta will stand tall

Also, the Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee has stayed away from campaigning for the BJP in Midnapore and even the candidate has not been able to meet her. However, that does not matter in Midnapore, which will remain, with Gupta since anti-front alliances have never cut any ice with the masses here.