In Balurghat, one of the Lok Sabha seats in the northern parts of Bengal, others campaigned but Sukanta “blew the whistle.”

Sukanta Majumdar, the BJP MP who is contesting for the second time from the seat, managed to change the poll narrative in his constituency by underscoring a slew of developments in the railway connectivity of South Dinajpur, a district that sits on the Indo-Bangla border.

“Throughout my campaign, I highlighted the improvements in rail connectivity in my constituency which happened in the past five years. Among these include the introduction of new train services, infrastructural development of stations, electrification of tracks and allocation of funds for new railway projects,” said Majumdar, state BJP chief.

In the course of his campaign, Majumdar had also launched a tableau which resembled a loco with two coaches. The tableau, which had sound boxes fitted in, moved with the whizzing sound of the train and also occasionally blew whistles.

“It moved throughout Balurghat constituency to apprise people of the changes in train connectivity that has eased their travel to Calcutta and Delhi,” added the BJP candidate.

In 2019, he had won by a margin of 33,293 votes, defeating Arpita Ghosh of Trinamool.

According to BJP insiders, in the past five years, Majumdar has managed to get trains to Sealdah (Calcutta), Delhi and Nabadwip Dham from Balurghat. Also, the Centre has allotted Rs 633 crores to extend the rail track from Balurghat to Hili. Located at the India-Bangladesh border, Hili is a land port and a transit route through which people travel to both the countries.

“A sum of 25 crores has been sanctioned for Balurghat station. Also, the infrastructure of Gangarampur and Buniadpur has been developed. The Eklakhi-Balurghat stretch has been electrified, which has reduced travel time,” said a BJP functionary.

In most other Parliament seats, political parties, including the BJP, have campaigned on certain narratives to draw votes. While the BJP has spoken on the CAA, the Sandeshkhali incident and has slammed Trinamool for corruption in government recruitments, Mamata Banerjee’s party has spoken of a halt in allotment of central funds, highhandedness of BSF and on some other decisions of the Narendra Modi government.

“During my tenure as the railway minister, I had initiated the Eklakhi-Balurghat rail project. It was because of me that people of South Dinajpur can take trains to different places,” chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said.

Her party has fielded Biplab Mitra, a minister, against Majumdar. Mitra, too, said most of the railway projects in the district had been initiated by Mamata.