• Please step out of your homes and cast your vote without fear
• We will extend all help to you to get enrolled in government schemes such as Swasthya Sathi, Kanyashree and Amar Fasal Amar Gola, among others

The first was a part of the poll promises of the Trinamool Congress to residents of housing complexes in New Town.

The second assurance was given to residents of rural pockets that surround the township and Rajarhat. The areas have portions that are part of several gram panchayats.

New Town is a planned township of parks, boulevards, smart residential high-rises and mixed-use buildings with Manhattan facades. But the township is surrounded by several villages and semi-urban pockets.

Rajarhat, on the other hand, has several parts that stand out in stark contrast to New Town, which has wide roads, parks and a well established water supply and drainage network.

A rural pocket in Rajarhat. Sanat Kr Sinha

Areas in Rajarhat such as Jatragachi, Sulanguri, Gouranganagar, Kadampukur and Jyoti Nagar, among several others, are part of the panchayat administration and marked with narrow roads, open drains and erratic power supply.

“Apnara nijer vote nijey din. Bhoy paowar kono karan nei. Trinamool Congress apanader sathey apnader pasey. Amader prarthi Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar ke joyi korun (Please cast your own vote. Do not be afraid. Ensure the victory of our candidate Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar),” a New Town housing complex resident, Soumyoshree Chatterjee, recalled being told by a group of men who were on a door-to-door campaign.

On July 8 last year, a large section of New Town residents had been denied the right to exercise their franchise in the panchayat elections, allegedly by outsiders who had put up barricades blocking roads to the polling booth.

In areas bordering New Town, such as Patharghata, Ghuni and Jatragachi —rural pockets that are part of gram panchayats — the campaigns focused on helping people get access to government-run schemes like Swasthya Sathi and Amar Fasal Amar Gola, and enrol their children for Kanyashree.

Ghosh Dastidar, the sitting MP from the Barasat constituency who is seeking re-election, said she apologised to the residents for what happened on the day of the panchayat elections.

“Across New Town, at all of my campaigns and meetings, I have apologised to the residents. I did not have anything to do with the violence. I also told them that they should get in touch with me directly in case they need any help regarding any issue, ranging from address change in Aadhaar cards or if anyone needs urgent medical attention,” Ghosh Dastidar told Metro.

According to her, despite New Town being governed by the New Town Kolkata Development Authority— an administrative body — residents can reach out to her directly if they need any help on any civic issue.

“In New Town’s surrounding rural pockets and Rajarhat, which have an entirely different demographic, I have asked my party workers to highlight the schemes of our government and extend all possible help to them to access those,”
she said.

Ghosh Dastidar has won from the Barasat constituency three times. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, she had a margin of 1,10,169 votes over her nearest rival, from the BJP.

This time, she is pitted against the BJP’s Swapan Majumder and the CPM’s Sanjib Chattopadhay.

Chattopadhay, who has led several roadshows and held door-to-door meetings across New Town and Rajarhat, said he and his party workers focused on issues like price rise, rising unemployment in the country and the polarisation of people based on religion.

“People are angry at the way the Trinamool Congress has cheated them in terms of chit fund schemes, sold jobs to those who can pay and overall lawlessness in the state. I have received great response from the residents of housing complexes in New Town as well as the rural pockets in Rajarhat and the slums,” Chattopadhay told Metro.

The BJP’s Majumder said Ghosh Dastidar had failed “miserably as an MP”.

“She has done nothing towards the overall development of the region. Till
date, there are places where there are a number of Matuas that are underdeveloped. In New Town, she has been heard accepting that her party workers had incited violence and she has apologised for it. People will see through the smokescreen and have realised that having a BJP MP can only result in development,” said Majumder.