The flood of turncoats has been one of the defining elements of the Bengal Assembly elections. The changed political dynamics of the people in the electoral fray have added another dimension to the contest in West Burdwan — mentors have been pitted against their former protégés.

In Pandaveswar, former Asansol mayor and Trinamul MLA Jitendra Kumar Tiwari is the BJP candidate against his one-time understudy — Narendranath Chakraborty, a Trinamul zilla parishad functionary. In Asansol North, minister Moloy Ghatak is taking on the BJP’s Krishnendu Mukherjee, his former comrade-in-arms. Mukherjee, a businessman, used to be a constant presence beside Ghatak at political and social programmes.

The BJP had secured sizeable leads in both Assembly segments in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Chakraborty is banking on Mamata Banerjee’s slogan “Bangla nijer meyekei chai (Bengal wants its own daughter)” to turn the tables on Tiwari, who switched to the BJP in March amid protests from party old-timers.

Krishnendu Mukherjee

Tiwari said he was confident of victory, riding the “BJP wave”. “The people here will not accept those who are against chanting Lord Ram’s name. I am sure I will win with the blessings of Lord Ram,” he said while starting his campaign last month after offering puja at a Ram temple in Pandaveswar.

He had taken the initiative to construct the temple during his tenure as a Trinamul MLA. Tiwari is also promising a free trip to the upcoming Ram temple in Ayodhya for senior citizens in Pandaveswar if he wins the polls.

BJP insiders said Tiwari was also relying on the party’s polarisation agenda to see him through.

Describing Tiwari as “Mir Zafar” and asking people not to vote for the “traitor”, Chakraborty recently told a gathering at Pandaveswar market: “In 2016, I could have been the candidate from Pandaveswar, being a party old-timer. But when Didi chose Jitendra Tiwari as her trusted soldier, I gave my best efforts to get him elected.”

Jitendra Tiwari

“Didi’s image and our efforts helped him to win the seat. People here will never support a traitor,” Chakraborty added.

“I have promised to turn Pandaveswar into a model constituency if I win. People know I am a son of the soil and Tiwari stays 50km away in Asansol,” said Chakraborty, also Trinamul’s Pandaveswar block president.

The Pandaveswar Assembly segment is part of the coal belt and falls under the Asansol Lok Sabha seat that has a sizable number of Hindi-speaking voters. The BJP got a lead of around 20,000 votes from Pandaveswar in the 2019 general election.

“It is clear that Tiwari wants to woo them,” a source said.

Narendranath Chakraborty

Pandaveswar has around 70 per cent Hindu voters, while Muslims constitute close to 27 per cent of the electorate.

At Asansol North, sources said the BJP’s Mukherjee is banking on a possible split in the 40 per cent Muslim votes to sail through. The constituency has the largest number of Muslim voters in West Burdwan district.

Sources said Trinamul was worried as the Sanjukta Morcha had left the seat to Abbas Siddique’s Indian Secular Front. Hyderabad-based Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM has also fielded its candidate. Both parties are expected to eat into the Muslim votes. The AIMIM is hoping to get the support of the Urdu-speaking Muslim voters in the constituency.

In the Asansol North Assembly segment, the BJP had taken a lead of 22,000 votes in the 2019 general election.

Ghatak, however, ruled out the possibility of any split in Trinamul’s vote bank.

“People here are not fools. They are aware of the development done by the Mamata Banerjee government in which I am a cabinet minister. People know about the misrule in BJP-run states. People are fed up of the increase in the prices of fuel and cooking gas. They will not vote for the BJP,” he said.

The BJP’s Mukherjee, who has several criminal cases pending against him, is confident that the “goodwill” associated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi will ensure his victory.

“Modiji is a popular leader in our state as well as the country. He is coming here to campaign. The people will vote for Modiji and nothing else will matter,” he said.