Hooghly Lok Sabha Election 2024: Can BJP’s Locket Chatterjee Overcome Internal Tussle to Retain This Key Bengal Constituency?

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Hooghly will vote on May 20 in Phase 5 and will see Chatterjee pitted against TMC’s Rachna Banerjee

Hooghly is one of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal. All seven assembly segments of Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency are in the Hooghly district itself and are held by the Trinamool Congress. These are: Singur, Chandannagar, Chunchura, Balagarh, Pandua, Saptagram and Dhanekhali. The current MP is Locket Chatterjee of the BJP who will lock horns with TMC’s Rachna Banerjee in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. The constituency will vote on May 20 in Phase 5 and the results will be declared on June 4.

Political Dynamics

TMC Gaining Ground: The TMC’s graph is on the rise in Hooghly. In 2019, the BJP had clinched the seat from the TMC by a margin of over 73,000 votes. However, being a constituency which Mamata Banerjee used as a springboard to launch her political career across West Bengal with the Singur agitation, the TMC is aggressively working to defeat the BJP here. Mamata Banerjee has roped in famous TV actor and host of the show ‘Didi No.1’, Rachna Banerjee, to wrest Hooghly from the BJP. On the ground, Rachna Banerjee has emerged as a formidable star candidate who is especially favoured by women voters. Since the BJP banks largely on women’s votes for its success in West Bengal, this development comes as a worrying sign for the saffron party. Rachna Banerjee is being projected by the TMC as the “other Didi” who will work for the betterment of Hooghly constituency, evidenced by the fact that she was introduced by TMC’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee by the same title at the Brigade rally in which the party’s candidates were announced.
On-Ground Effort: The TMC has the advantage of having a better organisation than the BJP, all of which is working with one goal in Hooghly — defeating Locket Chatterjee and ensuring that Rachna Banerjee wins. For this, TMC cadre on the ground is aggressively campaigning and reaching out to voters directly via frequent door-to-door campaigns. The TMC is reaching out to voters and briefing them about the many welfare schemes and initiatives of Mamata Banerjee. Most prominent among these is the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, which was launched in 2021 to provide women belonging to the general category a stipend of Rs 500 every month, while the amount for SC and ST women was fixed at Rs 1,000. In the state budget for this year, TMC chose to go down the road of populism and increased the allowance for general women under the scheme to Rs 1,000 and for SC/ST women to Rs 1,200. Ever since, the party has been going door-to-door, explaining the hike in allowance for women and how this is Mamata Banerjee’s gift to the women of West Bengal. The TMC is also at an advantageous position since all the seven MLAs from the assembly segments of Hooghly LS belong to Mamata Banerjee’s party. These legislators are actively galvanising their own support bases in Rachna Banerjee’s favour, evident from the significant crowds her rallies and public events are drawing across the constituency, especially in rural areas.
Edge for TMC: Muslims, who constitute more than 14 per cent voters in Hooghly LS, are also expected to provide the TMC with a “safe vote bank” which the party can be assured of. Combine that with a resurgence in women voters who are now favouring the TMC, apart from the party’s core vote bases, and the BJP has on its hands an extremely tough contest in which Mamata Banerjee’s party holds the edge. The TMC, which controls most of the local bodies and administration here, is also benefitting from the sentiment that development has taken place across the constituency. Over the past decade, several industrial units and factories have cropped up in the constituency, providing some employment opportunities to people here. This is significant, given how the TMC had once spearheaded the anti-Tata agitation of Singur and supposedly fought for the rights of small and marginal farmers and land-owners. Interestingly, Rachna Banerjee has been refraining from engaging in personal attacks against BJP’s Locket Chatterjee, supposedly due to the cordial relations which both the candidates share in private. Banerjee claims that while such attacks may draw momentary applause, they cannot assure votes in her favour. For that, the TMC candidate is banking on her pitch to provide better services, the TMC government’s developmental activities in the region and Mamata Banerjee’s welfare schemes.
BJP Faces Big Challenge: The BJP has fairly acquainted itself with how politics is done in West Bengal. As such, it is definitely better prepared for the ongoing elections and is also banking on voters’ desire to choose Narendra Modi at the Centre, even if they support the TMC at the state level. Since the BJP was able to win 18 Lok Sabha seats from Bengal in 2019, even though it could not replicate the same performance in assembly polls two years later, the party is hopeful that this time around too, the momentum will be in its favour. The BJP itself is drawing large crowds in its campaign events, especially those being addressed by PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Since Hooghly is a tough contest for the BJP this time, the Prime Minister is set to campaign here himself. For the BJP, bringing the Tatas back to Hooghly appears to have become a central poll plank in this constituency. Locket Chatterjee has gone on to promise that she will bring the Tatas to Singur to set up a manufacturing plant here. However, voters are quick to point out that she made no such moves over the past five years. There are also those who term her an absent MP who did not interact with her constituents as much as she should have. As such, there is significant anti-incumbency and discontent on the ground against Locket Chatterjee. This is despite her claims of spending several crores on the development of Hooghly.
Unhappy Cadre? While TMC cadre are actively campaigning for Rachna Banerjee, the BJP either does not have a similar organisational strength, or Locket Chatterjee is simply not enthusing the BJP workers enough. BJP karyakartas have themselves flagged the alleged indifferent attitude of Locket Chatterjee towards them. In March, several posters appeared against Locket Chatterjee, purportedly put up by BJP mandal presidents who did not favour her as the Hooghly LS candidate for the second time. At a time when the TMC is putting its best foot forward here, the internal bickering in the party and the inability of Locket Chatterjee to bring the might of the BJP organisation to back her candidature may prove extremely costly for the saffron party. In many ways, PM Modi’s campaign here will be crucial in ironing out such differences, but it remains to be seen if the same has any tangible outcome with barely days left for polling to take place.

Key Issues

Pollution: The Kolkata-Hooghly industrial region faces a severe pollution problem, with levels exceeding safe limits. Industrial waste is often discharged into the Hooghly River, despite government regulations against such practices. This pollution has not only affected the river but has also contaminated the groundwater, raising concerns about the long-term environmental and health implications for the region. Moreover, air pollution has also reached unprecedented levels. Apart from the apparent industrial waste being dumped into the river, there are many other non-point sources of pollution to the Hooghly river. It includes waste water pouring into the river from innumerable small drains, industrial activities happening close to the river banks, dumping of garbage and encroachments on the riverbed.
Drinking Water Shortage: Residents of Hooghly face a severe shortage of drinking water every summer. Many areas lack access to piped water, and residents have expressed frustration with the Hooghly Municipal Corporation’s inadequate planning and inability to ensure a reliable water supply during the hot summer months. The reason for the shortfall in water supply is the declining groundwater level, increasing sludge and the industrial pollution at the banks of the Hooghly river. Moreover, the pipeline infrastructure has failed to keep up with the demand as, in many areas, pipes laid not even five years ago have burst, which has also caused water supply to stop for 5-6 days in some places.
Garbage Dumping: Several places in Hooghly have turned into garbage heaps. All that garbage goes directly into the open drain. Waste management rules are not followed. As a result, the situation in a large part of Hooghly urban area has become miserable, especially along the banks of the river. This has led to clogged drains, resulting in overflows and the accumulation of sewage water in residential areas, particularly during periods of rain. The inadequate waste management system has led to a decline in the quality of life for the people.
Unemployment: Despite there being many industries in the region, there has not been any considerable decline in the unemployment figures as many jobs have been taken up by migrant workers from the Howrah and Kolkata region. As a result, people in the Hooghly region have to migrate to other urban centres in the state. However, there is a considerable confidence behind the TMC to bring jobs to the people and people believe that the work done over the last 5-6 years to bring a number of industries into the region is an example of how TMC will perform in the future.
Civic Development: Civic infrastructure such as roads, street lights, sewage systems have all been taken care of due to the coming of new industries in the region. On-ground reports state that every zilla parishad has been taken care of with regards to civic amenities such as electricity, healthcare and primary educational infrastructure. This bodes well for the TMC as people have a visual feel for development under their rule.
Traffic Congestion: Traffic congestion is a major issue in Hooghly. With numerous industrial units propping up, there has been an increase in migrants to the constituency. This has also led to a rise in private vehicles as people do not deem the public transportation to be adequate to deal with the demands of the people. As a result, there is major traffic congestion near the Hooghly industrial belt area. Moreover, increasing population has also led to unplanned development due to which encroachment of government land along the roads has become a major issue contributing to the problem of traffic. In addition, footpaths have been occupied by hawkers, the homeless, and the migrant workers who have nowhere to turn to.

Infrastructure Development

Widening of SH-13: The widening of SH-13 is underway to turn it into a 4-6 lane highways. This will provide better connectivity and ease traffic congestion in the Hooghly district. The project is being carried out at a cost of Rs 1,396 crore.
Water Treatment Plant: The government of West Bengal inaugurated a water treatment plant (WTP) at Uttarpara-Kotrung in Hooghly on February 13, 2024. It will have a capacity of 55 million gallons per day and will provide water for almost two million people. It was built at a cost of Rs 17.6 billion.
Amrit Bharat Station: Chandnagore station in the Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency has been selected as one of the stations under the Union government’s Amrit Bharat scheme. This will provide improved infrastructure and passenger facilities and will also transform the station into a logistical hub.
Railway Infrastructure: Several stations received upgrades, including platform extensions, new shelters, and improved passenger amenities like toilets and drinking water facilities. Accessibility was enhanced with the construction of foot overbridges. Station modernisation efforts included renovation and beautification works. Additionally, there was a focus on expanding capacity and connectivity. The doubling of the Bandel-Jirat line was a significant undertaking, as was the construction of a new 4th line between Dankuni and Saktigarh. These projects aimed to increase the efficiency and flow of train traffic. Efforts were also made to improve passenger comfort and convenience with the installation of air conditioning in crew lobbies and waiting rooms at various stations.