“I see nowadays that in many places, slums of the poor are being demolished and big residential projects are being built there. I do not support this,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
The contest for Bhabanipur, the constituency represented by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has picked up steam with many months still to go for Assembly polls in the State.
A day after Ms. Banerjee alleged that Bhabanipur is being filled by ‘bohiragoto (outsiders)‘ in a planned manner, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari vowed to defeat her from the same seat.
“I see nowadays that in many places, slums of the poor are being demolished and big residential projects are being built there. I do not support this. Our voters are being driven away. Bhabanipur is being filled with outsiders in a planned manner,” she had said on Tuesday (October 14, 2025).
On Wednesday (October 15), Mr. Adhikari said that after the special intensive revision of electoral rolls is completed, the Trinamool Congress chief would be defeated from Bhabanipur. “The BJP has the lead in five out of eight wards in the constituency,” the BJP leader added. This is not the first time that Mr. Adhikari has said that the Chief Minister will face strong opposition in Bhabanipur in the next Assembly polls.
Outsiders in highrises
The Chief Minister, who made her remarks via telephone to a gathering of senior Trinamool Congress leaders including Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, expressed concerns over the mushrooming of high rises in her constituency.
The term ‘bohiragoto’ has often been used by Trinamool Congress leaders in political discourse to target outsiders, particularly those whose mother tongue is not Bengali.
Ms. Banerjee, however, clarified that all those who come to actually live and work in the State are counted as Bengal’s people. “But those who suddenly come from outside, spend lots of money, buy land and homes, and then displace the local people, they are outsiders,” she said.
BJP narrowing the gap
After losing to Mr. Adhikari from the Nandigram Assembly seat in the 2021 Assembly election, Ms. Banerjee had contested and won Bhabanipur in September 2021 by a margin of 58,832 votes, securing 72% of the votes.
The constituency located in the heart of the city has electors from different communities, including Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains. Both Ms. Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee have homes in the constituency, which has elected the Chief Minister for three consecutive terms in 2011, 2016, and 2021.
The Chief Minister’s remarks assume significance as the BJP had narrowed the gap with the Trinamool Congress in the Bhabanipur Assembly seat during the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The ruling party’s lead dropped to 8,297 votes in 2024, compared to 58,832 votes in 2021.
The five wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation where the BJP led the polling in 2024 were 63, 70, 71, 72, and 74, while the Trinamool Congress led in three wards, 73, 77 and 82.
Published – October 15, 2025 10:51 pm IST
