“I see today that slums are being demolished in many places 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 gathered momentum with many months left for the state’s assembly elections.
A day after Ms Banerjee alleged that Bhabanipur was being occupied by “bohiragoto (foreigners)” in a planned manner, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari vowed to defeat her from the same seat.
“I see today that in many places slums 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 planned to be filled with foreigners,” she said on Tuesday (14 October 2025).
On Wednesday (October 15), Mr Adhikari said the Trinamool Congress chief would be defeated from Bhabanipur after the completion of a special intensive revision of electoral rolls. “The BJP is leading in five of the eight constituencies 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 elections.
Outsiders in high-rise buildings
The Chief Minister, who made her remarks over phone to a gathering of senior Trinamool Congress leaders, including Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, expressed concern over the rise in high prices in her constituency.
The term ‘bohiragoto’ has often been used by Trinamool Congress leaders in political discourse to target outsiders, especially those whose mother tongue is not Bengali.
However, Ms. Banerjee clarified that all those who come to actually live and work in the state are counted as Bengali people. “But those who suddenly come from outside, spend a lot of money, buy land and houses and then push out local people, they are outsiders,” she said.
BJP is closing the gap
After losing to Mr. Adhikari from the Nandigram assembly seat in the 2021 assembly elections, Ms. Banerjee contested and won Bhabanipur by a margin of 58,832 votes in September 2021, securing 72% of the votes.
Located in the heart of the city, the constituency has voters from various communities, including Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. Both Ms Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee have homes in the constituency, which saw the Chief Minister elected for three consecutive terms in 2011, 2016 and 2021.
The chief minister’s remarks assume significance as the BJP has narrowed the gap with the Trinamool Congress in the Bhabanipur assembly seat during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The ruling party’s lead fell to 8,297 votes in 2024 from 58,832 votes in 2021.
The five Kolkata Municipal Corporation constituencies where the BJP led in the 2024 polls were 63, 70, 71, 72 and 74, while the Trinamool Congress was leading in three constituencies, 73, 77 and 82.
Published – 15 Oct 2025 22:51 IST
