Diamond West Bengal Harbour Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Voting date, results, candidates, main parties and schedule

West Bengal LOKSABHA-Election-2024-West-Bengal-Modi-Mamta

The parliamentary constituency of Diamond Harbour, situated in West Bengal, was formerly known as Hajipur before being renamed by the British. As per the 2011 census, its population stands at 2,221,470. This constituency is part of the South 24 Parganas district. Of its inhabitants, 49.07% reside in rural areas, while 50.93% are urban residents. Diamond Harbour comprises seven Assembly seats, namely Falta, Satgachhia, Bishnupur, Maheshtala, Budge Budge, Metiabruz, and Diamond Harbour itself.

In the inaugural general election of 1952, Kamal Basu of the CPI(M) emerged victorious. However, in the subsequent by-election, Purnendu Shekhar Naskar, representing the Congress, secured the Lok Sabha seat. Naskar retained his position in the following general election of 1957. Sudhansu Bhushan Das of the Congress claimed victory in the 1962 elections.

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The political landscape shifted in the 1967 general election when Jyotirmoy Basu of the CPI(M) commenced a streak of consecutive wins, triumphing also in the elections of 1971, 1977, and 1980. Following Jyotirmoy Basu's tenure, Amal Datta, also of the CPI(M), secured victory in the 1982 by-election, maintaining his winning streak until 1991. Subsequently, Samik Lahiri, also representing the CPI(M), continued the trend by winning consecutive elections until 2004.

In the 2009 general election, the Trinamool Congress broke the CPI(M)'s longstanding hold on the seat, with Somendra Mitra emerging as the Member of Parliament.

In the 2014 general election, Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of Mamata Banerjee, was elected as a Lok Sabha member from this constituency. He secured victory with 40.31% of the votes, representing the Trinamool Congress. The CPI(M)'s Dr. Abul Hasnat came in second with 34.66% of the votes, while the BJP candidate Abhijeet Das secured third place with 15.92% of the votes.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Abhishek Banerjee retained his seat, receiving 7,91,127 votes. He again represented the Trinamool Congress. The BJP candidate, Nilanjan Roy, secured the second position with 4,70,533 votes, followed by Fuad Halim of the CPI(M) in third place with 93,941 votes. The Congress candidate, Soumya Aich Roy, received only 19,828 votes.

The heavyweights in the fray this year are: