14 seats up for grabs amid BLOODY fears

The RSP is likely to retain the seat

Bankura
Candidates: 11
Head on contest: CPM and Congress
Regarded as Red Citadel,CPM’s Basudeb Acharia — the eight-time MP — is defending the seat in a ten-cornered contest. Senior Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee is his main contender. Bordering Jharkhand,the tribal-dominated area has been a hotbed of Maoists. Two of its Assembly segments have been declared highly sensitive. Mukherjee may not win but will surely make a dent

Bishnupur
Candidates: 7
Head on contest: Trinamool and CPM
Two tough women candidates are fighting it out. While sitting CPM MP Susmita Bauri is banking on ills of Opposition,Trinamool’s Seuli Saha — a resident of Nandigram — wants to win the elections by defeating the “shadow of terror.” Issues of development like water,roads have,however,taken a back seat.

Purulia
Candidates: 14
Head on contest: Forward Bloc and the Congress
Narhari Mahato of Forward Bloc and Shantiram Mahato of the Congress are pitted against each other her. A stronghold of the Left Front for over three decades,Purulia will be a tough fight for Marxists. It’s not only the Trinamool-Congress alliance that is bothering the Bloc. Other factors like Maoist uprising,disunity within the Left Front and delimitation are giving serious headache to the party

Jalpaiguri
Candidates: 10
Head on contest: CPM and Congress
The CPM has dropped its sitting MP Minati Sen and instead fielded party MLA from Rajgunj Mahendra Roy to take on the Trinamool-Congress allaince. The BJP,which is also in the fray,may help CPM as the party is sure to bag a considerable chunk of anti-Left votes. Congress candidate Sukhabilas Barma is desperately trying to woo workers of closed tea gardens. Barma’s additional advantage is his melodious voice and his rendering of local “Bhawaia” songs to electorate

Cooch behar
Candidates: 10
Head on contest: Trinamool Congress and Forward Block
Forward Bloc dropped its sitting MP Hiten Barman resulting in resentment among a section of party supporters. Bloc’s Nripen Roy,who is close to Kamal Guha’s son,has bagged the nomination.

Pitted against him is Trinamool’s Arghya Roy Pradhan. He is the son of former Bloc leader Amar Roy Pradhan who had represented this seat eight times. Pradhan has a marginal chance of winning from this seat

Ghatal
Candidates: 7
Head on contest: Trinamool and CPI
Delimitation led to the formation of Ghatal Lok Sabha seat in place of Pashkura. CPI stalwart and sitting MP from Panskura,Gurudas Dasgupta is pitted against Nure Alam Chowdhury,the richest candidate in the state. Chowdhury,former acting chief justice of Calcutta High Court,feels that if elections are held free and fair,particularly in the Kespur Assembly segment — a CPM bastion — he could give a tough fight to Dasgupta

Jhargram
Candidates: 8
Head on contest: CPM and Congress
Elections in this tribal area have never witnessed such bloodshed in the run-up to the polls. Amrit Hansda of

Congress and CPM’s Pulin Bihari Banske are the main contenders. It has always been a cakewalk for the CPM at the expense of weak Opposition. But this time,the emergence of Maoist-backed Police Santras Birodhi Public Committee in Lalgarh and its influence in Bandowan and Salboni may create a problem for the Left

Raigunj
Candidates: 12
Head on contest: CPM and Congress
Delimitation and ailing Union Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi will be major deciding factors in Congress candidate Deepa Dasmunsi’s victory from Raigunj. After delimitation,new Assembly segments — Hemtabad and Chakulia have been included in Raigunj as also Kaliagunj,which was earlier with the neighbouring Balurghat constituency. The CPM has fielded its Uttar Dinajpur district secretary Bireswar Lahiri. A rebel

Congress candidate is also contesting as Independent and may damage Deepa’s prospects. But she is working overtime to nullify them

Malda North
Candidates: 9
Head on contest: CPM and Congress
In the newly-created Malda North Lok Sabha constituency,Ghani Khan Chowdhuri’s niece and Congress’ Sujapur MLA,Mausam Noor,is contesting. However,at the onset there was a major controversy over the choice of candidate. Peace was finally brokered between Noor and her uncle,Abu Naser Khan Chowdhury. CPM’s Sailen Sarkar is banking on brand Buddha ,but Noor may have the last laugh

Malda South
Candidates: 9
Head on contest: CPM and Congress
After Ghani Khan Chowdhury’s death in 2006,the Congress fielded his brother,A H Khan Chowdhury,who will be defending his seat against CPM’s Dr Abdur Rezzak. But it is a tough battle for the CPM,as Ghani Khan’s legacy still remains strong in the region

Darjeeling
Candidates: 10
Head on contest: Between the BJP,CPM and Congress
The hills are all set to witness a triangular contest but BJP’s Jaswant Singh is way ahead with support from GJM. The votes in the plains is likely to split between Congress,CPM and BJP. A new Assembly segment — Matigara-Naxalbari — has been inducted in place of Islampur

Midnapore
Candidates: 10
Head on contest: CPI and Cong
Trinamool’s candidate Dipak Ghosh,retired IAS officer and former district magistrate of undivided Midnapore,has made the election here worth watching. Ghosh is pitted against CPI’s Prabodh Panda,who is seeking re-election for third term in a row. CPI is likely to retain the seat

Snapshots
* Constituency with largest number of voters: Ghatal
* Constituency with least number of voters: Balurghat
* Maximum number of candidates in one constituency: Purulia (14)
* Minimum number of candidates in one constituency: Ghatal and Bishnupur (7 each)
* Largest constituency in terms of area: Jhargram
* Highest number of booths in a single constituency : Ghatal (1774)
* Least number of booths in a single constituency : Balurghat (1,271)
* Maximum number of Independent candidates: Purulia (6)
* Maximum number of women voters in one constituency: Kolkata South
* Least number of women voters in one constituency: Balurghat
* Least number of voters in one booth: 61 in one booth in Alipurduar,Kumargram,Sachaful