River erosion, drinking water crisis key issues in Bengal’s Maldaha Uttar LS seat

Once considered to be a stronghold of the Congress, the constituency has seen the emergence of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress over the past decade.

While the TMC holds sway over Chanchal, Harishchandrapur, Malatipur, and Ratua assembly seats which are part of the Lok Sabha constituency, the BJP has made inroads in Habibpur, Gazole, and Maldaha segments.

Incumbent BJP MP Khagen Murmu, confident of retaining the seat for the second term, emphasised his efforts to address local grievances despite resistance from the state government.

He cited challenges in implementing central schemes due to “lack of cooperation” from the state administration.

“I am confident of winning with a big margin. People of this constituency have realised that the local administration and the state government do not want any development for them. They have been deprived because of the non-cooperative attitude of the state government. I have fought for them and the people of Maldaha Uttar know it. I know they will vote for me again,” the BJP nominee told PTI.

Murmu, a former CPI(M) MLA from Habibpur who joined the BJP in 2019, alleged that he had faced “huge resistance from the state government whenever he tried to implement any central government scheme”.

“There is a huge population who are still residing in kutcha houses. I tried to help them rebuild their houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, but the state government did everything to prevent me from helping the poor people,” he said.

He also referred to the persisting problems of river erosion and inadequate drinking water and alleged that people of his constituency were “getting poor quality provisions” procured from ration shops.

“I have requested the state minister several times to send a detailed project report to the Centre so that river erosion could be checked. But that never happened,” Murmu alleged.

He said Ganga river erosion displaced thousands of villagers at Mahanandtola gram panchayat under Ratua assembly seat.

Opposing Murmu’s claims, TMC MLA Samar Mukherjee criticised the BJP for its “failure to fulfil promises to arrest river erosion before the 2019 elections”.

“Ganga river erosion is a major issue that affects the lives of thousands of people in Malda and Murshidabad districts. Our government helped villagers who were displaced by erosion. They are very upset with the BJP MP as he has failed in keeping his promise,” Mukherjee said.

Congress candidate Mostaque Alam expressed confidence that his party will win the elections as people are “fed up with the BJP and TMC’s politics”.

Alam questioned understanding of the grassroots politics of IPS officer-turned-TMC candidate Prasun Banerjee.

“What does he (Prasun Banerjee) know about politics? You cannot gauge the pulse of the people suddenly after coming out of an air-conditioned room. Maldaha Uttar is not that an easy affair,” the Congress leader said.

He said people have realised that the “politics of the BJP and the TMC will not benefit them”.

Banerjee, a 2006-batch IPS officer, has held several important positions, including Inspector General (IG) of Raiganj range, before taking voluntary retirement to contest elections.

“I had offers from the TMC and was promised to be inducted into Mamata Banerjee’s Cabinet, but they do not know that I am not a traitor. I started as a student leader under the leadership of ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury, worked with leaders like Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and Pradip Chakraborty, and have learnt what politics is all about,” Alam told PTI over the phone.

Banerjee declined to reply to his opponents and went on to say, “I do not want to speak anything now. June 4 will reveal everything.” In the 2019 polls, the BJP secured over 37.5 per cent of the votes, while the TMC and the Congress had a share of 31 per cent and 22.5 per cent, respectively.

Maldaha Uttar parliamentary constituency will go to polls on May 7. PTI SCH BDC MNB