Sealdah’s Sajal flags flooding & water crisis concerns to unsettle Trinamool in Baranagar

KOLKATA: Baranagar has emerged as one of the most closely watched contests, with Trinamool candidate Sayantika Banerjee and BJP nominee Sajal Ghosh fighting a prestige battle in a constituency that went to a byelection just a couple of years back. In that bypoll, Banerjee defeated Ghosh by 8,150 votes. Barely one-and-a-half years later, both candidates have returned to the ground, all guns blazing.

On Friday morning, Banerjee began her campaign early in Ward 26 and at one point, she ran through a lane off Moiradanga Road. Asked about her pace, Banerjee said: "It's not that I am in a hurry to cover more area. I devote maximum time to interact with people, listen to their problems, and solve them. But if voters see that their candidate is physically fit and energetic, they also feel energized to vote."

Later in the day, Ghosh campaigned in adjoining areas, also going door-to-door and appealing directly to residents for support. "Give me a chance. If I fail to deliver, replace me after five years. In last 50 years, you have seen the Left and Trinamool regimes. Please allow the BJP to serve you," he appealed.

While Banerjee projected confidence about retaining the seat, she acknowledged that several civic issues remained unresolved. "I never claim that I did everything within the brief period I served. My first focus was to repair streets, and that was done by spending Rs 7.5 crore," she said.

Ghosh challenged that claim, pointing out that the reality was very different as streets were in disrepair. According to him, sewerage problems, lack of purified drinking water, drainage bottlenecks and waterlogging remained major concerns in the constituency. "I gave Banerjee a tough fight in the bypoll but false voting helped Trinamool then. This time, the ruling party would not get that opportunity," he said.

Banerjee, while admitting that water-related problems persisted, argued that the situation improved compared with the Left Front era. She also raised concerns over deletions during the SIR process.

Baranagar, once a Left bastion represented for two decades by former chief minister Jyoti Basu, shifted to Trinamool in 2011. In the 2024 bypoll, Left candidate Tanmoy Bhattacharjee secured around 23,000 votes. While Ghosh said he was confident of attracting Left voters this time, Left candidate Sayandeep Mitra claimed committed Left supporters would remain with his party. He accused Trinamool of neglecting development over the past 16 years and alleged that industries and well-known state-run schools have shut down during this period.

Banerjee dismissed the criticism, saying, "They should look at themselves and what development they carried out during their tenure. People know how much development they did."


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