With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announcing the name of two-term West Bengal MP SS Ahluwalia, Asansol is set for the clash of “outsiders” on May 13. Ahluwalia will face Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) sitting MP actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha.
Ahluwalia was the MP of Darjeeling in 2014 and won the Burdwan-Durgapur seat in 2019. He replaces Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh, who earlier withdrew his candidature after flak from the TMC for his “misogynistic songs”. After the announcement, Ahluwalia said: “Asansol is my birthplace. I am thankful to PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda for giving me the chance to contest from Asansol. The fight is not between two people, but between two ideologies. The BJP believes in justice for all and appeasement to none. I am always ready for challenges. This time, I am fighting from Asansol.”
Asansol, with at least 40% Hindi-speaking population, is one of the two seats the BJP won in the state in 2014. In 2014 and 2019, singer Babul Supriyo won this seat for the BJP. However, he later joined the TMC, leading to a bypoll. Sinha won Asansol by more than 1 lakh votes in the 2021 by-election.
lthough Ahluwalia became an MP from the state twice, the Opposition alleges that he is generally not seen in his constituencies. Sources say that taking his absence in his constituency into account, the BJP changed Ahluwalia’s seat.
Meanwhile, the BJP is yet to declare a candidate for the Diamond Harbour constituency against TMC’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
