Asansol in West Bengal is among the state's 42 Lok Sabha constituencies and comprises seven Assembly segments including Barbani, Pandabeswar, Raniganj, Jamuria, Asansoldakshin, Asansoluttar and Kulti.
The key contest for this year's Lok Sabha elections, due on May 13 here, is between Trinamool Congress' (TMC) Shatrugan Sinha, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) SS Ahluwalia and Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s (CPI[M]) Jahanara Khan.
Actor and politician Shatrugan Sinha from TMC has served as a Member of Parliament from the Lok Sabha from Patna Sahib constituency. He has also been a member of the Rajya Sabha, and also served as Union Cabinet Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Shipping in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
Earlier part of the Indian National Congress after being denied a ticket by the BJP, in 2022, Sinha joined the TMC and contested the by-election from Asansol, winning against the BJP candidate.
BJP candidate SS Ahluwalia currently represents the Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal. Earlier, he had also represented Darjeeling. Ahluwalia served as Minister of State for Urban Affairs and Employment (Department of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation) and Parliamentary Affairs in the P V Narasimha Rao cabinet. He joined the BJP in 1999.
CPI(M)’s candidate Jahanara Khan has won the Jamuria Assembly constituency seat twice, in 2016 and 2011. The Jamuria Assembly constituency seat which is part of the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency.
Also read: Khunti 2024 Lok Sabha election phase 4: Key constituencies and candidates.
In the 2019 General Assembly Elections, BJP's Babul Supriya Baral defeated actress and politician Moon Moon Sen (Srimati Sen) of the TMC.
Key election issues in Asansol this year are reopening closed factories, addressing drinking water scarcity in rural pockets and reining in the illegal mining menace in abandoned collieries.
Asansol shares its border with Jharkhand and has a significant Hindi-speaking population, mostly migrant workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh employed in the mines and factories.
Candidate Name | Party |
Shatrugan Sinha | Trinamool Congress |
SS Ahluwalia | BJP |
Jahanara Khan | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
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