Dhanpur bypoll: Former classmates principal contenders, ruling BJP hopes to do an encore

Interestingly, in Dhanpur, two former schoolmates are the principal contenders. CPI(M) candidate Kaushik Chanda, who fought and lost the seat in the Assembly polls held in February this year, is pitted against BJP mandal president Bindu Debnath, who was his classmate at Kabi Nazrul Vidyalaya.

The bye-election was necessitated following the resignation of winning BJP candidate Pratima Bhoumik, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. Bhoumik resigned to retain her membership in the Lok Sabha.

Dhanpur used to be the home turf of former CPI(M) chief minister Manik Sarkar. He won the seat throughout his chief ministership. But he decided not to contest this year and Kaushik Chanda was fielded by the party.

Given the political significance of the seat, the BJP has deployed a battery of senior party leaders including its Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra, party in-charge of Tripura Mahendra Singh, and Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik, besides Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath, ministers Sushanta Chowdhury, Bikash Debbarma and state party president Rajib Bhattacharya for the bypoll campaign.

The optics of mounting such a high-voltage campaign has certainly given a psychological boost to the BJP rank and file, observed poll pundits.

The CPI(M), too, has had to stretch itself as the other two prominent Opposition parties – the Congress and the Tipra Motha – are neither contesting the bypolls nor officially supporting Left candidates.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah invited Tipra Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma for a sudden meeting in New Delhi two days ago. While both sides clarified that the meeting focused only on issues affecting tribal people in Tripura, political experts said the meeting was held to drive home the point that the differences between the Left and the Tipra Motha are far from being ironed out and the latter was dependent on the saffron camp for its demand of Greater Tipraland.

Asked about the ensuing bypolls, BJP worker Rahul Saha, 28, also a ration shop assistant at Mohanbhog under the Dhanpur constituency, said unlike the February polls the BJP will win this time easily.

“We want the government to resolve road and power cut issues. I did not get any government job myself but, of late, only deserving candidates are getting jobs, unlike in the Left regime. Also, youths without a government job are becoming self-reliant with loans. So, I will support the BJP for the development of the state,” he said.

Retired Indian Army Havaldar Chittaranjan Deb, 65, said the state has developed swiftly under the BJP regime, especially on the infrastructure front.

However, he admitted that road connectivity was still a problem, and added that theft cases have increased and a large section of youths is still addicted to drugs.

“Bindu Debnath is a good candidate and we feel he will win with a good margin,” he said.

Charu Miah, 70, was a CPI(M) supporter till 2018 but has been backing the BJP in recent years.

“The BJP will win by a bigger margin this time… I have benefited from the PMAY, agricultural support, and Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, among others,” he shared.

Charu Miah said he worked as a sharecropper all his life and ensured both his daughters passed graduation but they never got jobs during the Left regime. “Why should we support the Left or the Congress? When the CPI(M) govt was here, we used to support it. Two of my daughters are graduates. They gave many interviews but got no jobs. My daughters are married now, they have not got jobs yet but I have got several government benefits,” he said.

He claimed the Opposition parties are falsely trying to project that Muslims do not support the BJP.

Charu Miah, however, added that no party should stay in power for long. “Voters should change the government frequently and see how it turns out,” he said.

The road condition steadily worsened as this correspondent travelled from Mohanbhog to Kathalia RD block. When asked about the poor road conditions, Sentu Miah, 55, a local, said the ruling BJP did not carry out any road repair work in the last five years. A former CPI(M) supporter himself, he, however, said voting for the Opposition will not do any good as there will not be any change of guard at the state level.

Anowar Hossain, 37, a farmer at Rangamura under Dhanpur constituency, said people will vote for the BJP despite bad roads and frequent power cuts. “The ruling BJP will get support since the government will not change with this by-election,” he said.

Sukumohan Tripura, 80, of Rangamura, said he started receiving a monthly old-age pension of Rs 2,000 after the BJP came to power. The octogenarian added that he receives the money regularly and is happy with the arrangement.

On his part, CPI(M) candidate Kaushik Chanda, 42, said he is working hard to win over the voters this time.

“We have around 50,443 voters in the Dhanpur seat. We reached out to 70 per cent of voters in the last Assembly polls. Now, we are targeting those whom we could not meet last time. I am visiting the houses of those untapped electors while our other comrades are distributing leaflets in areas we covered last time,” he said.

Chanda lost the election by 3,500 votes last time. His defeat was attributed to the purported violence by anti-socials and the Tipra Motha factor. Motha secured 8,671 votes in the seat, over double the winning margin.

Emboldened by the Motha’s decision to stay away from the fray and not support the BJP, Chanda is hopeful of winning the seat this time. While the Motha and the Congress have not openly supported the Left, Chanda said there is Opposition unity at the grassroots level.

“My own house came under attack 16 times. A house was gutted, my uncle’s house and my brother’s house were all damaged. And I am not alone, 68 houses in Kathalia and Dhanpur have been destroyed and looted since 2021… This time, Motha MLAs informally campaigned for us at Manaipathar, South Taibandal, and Anandapur ADC village. Congress leaders have not joined us in the campaign but they are working in their own way by asking their voters to vote in favour of the INDIA alliance, in which the CPI(M) is a partner,” he said.

He reasoned that apart from “public frustration” with the government’s policies, the BJP’s purported factionalism in Dhanpur will work to the CPI(M)’s advantage. “There is a huge factionalism among the BJP here. The impact of which will be seen on the poll day,” he claimed.

On the other hand, the ruling BJP is also confident of victory. BJP Dhanpur candidate Bindu Debnath, who is a former Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader, joined the saffron camp in 2014. He started his journey in the BJP from the Yuva Morcha, soon became a general secretary of the BJP Dhanpur mandal committee and then president of the mandal, which is the party’s assembly constituency-level organisational committee, in 2019. Debnath is currently the chairman of the education standing committee of the state government.

Contesting his first-ever Assembly election, Debnath said the response has been good. Debnath was busy with his door-to-door campaign at Mohanbhog village in the Dhanpur constituency when he interacted with indianexpress.com.

“I have a very close connection with people as the mandal president. I participated in the campaign in the Tripura ADC and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. I campaigned for Union minister Pratima Bhoumik in the Assembly polls this year… The party gave me many other responsibilities. I shall do my job if I am elected,” he said.

Debnath is highlighting the flagship schemes of the Centre prominently in his campaign. He realises the intricate voter composition of his constituency. Dhanpur has a mix of general, Scheduled Caste (SC), and minority voters along with 13,000 tribal voters. While tribals largely voted in favour of the Motha last time, he claimed they would vote in favour of the BJP in the bye-election.

“We have worked for the last five years… Everyone, including tribals and Muslims, is with us,” Debnath said.