Chanditala Assembly Election 2024

Over the years, Chanditala has absorbed a steady inflow of families from Kolkata, especially poorer and middle‑class sections, who moved here to save on rental costs or sold their houses in the city for financial stability. With Dankuni town as its base, Chanditala functions as a suburban extension of Kolkata and is often described as part of its satellite belt, combining affordable housing with convenient rail and road connectivity.

Chanditala Assembly constituency was established ahead of the 1962 elections. It has participated in 15 Assembly elections since then. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has won the seat seven times, while the Congress party and the Trinamool Congress have emerged victorious thrice each. An Independent politician, Abdul Latif, won the seat twice in 1967 and 1969.

The Trinamool Congress has won the Chanditala constituency thrice consecutively with Swati Khandoker as its candidate. She defeated CPI(M)’s Md. Sk Azim Ali twice, by 16,920 votes in 2011 and 14,176 votes in 2016. The BJP, which had polled 3.29 per cent and 6.75 per cent of votes in 2011 and 2016, respectively, raced past the Left FrontCongress alliance in 2021 to emerge as the Trinamool’s principal opponent, but failed to mount a serious challenge, as Khandoker defeated the BJP’s Debashish Dasgupta by a huge margin of 41,347 votes.

Total dominance of the Trinamool Congress is also visible in the voting trends at the Chanditala segment, with the party leading in all four Lok Sabha elections beginning 2009 without encountering any serious challenge. It led the CPI(M) by 14,862 votes in 2009 and by 16,030 in 2014. The BJP replaced the CPI(M) to occupy the second position as the Trinamool Congress further increased the gap. It led the BJP by 17,216 votes in 2019 and 35,350 votes in 2024.

Chanditala had 272,405 registered voters in 2024, up from 263,257 in 2021, 252,634 in 2019 and 240,383 in 2016. Muslims, with 28.10 per cent of voters, are the most dominant group of the electorate, followed by 14.48 per cent Scheduled Caste voters. While Chanditala itself is a semiurban town, the constituency is predominantly urban with 74.04 per cent urban voters and 25.94 per cent rural electorate. The voter turnout has remained on the higher side with 81.52 per cent in 2011, 79.18 per cent in 2016, 77.04 per cent in 2019 and 78.67 per cent in 2021.

Chanditala is located in the southern part of the Hooghly district. The terrain is flat and fertile, nourished by the Hooghly River and its distributaries. Agriculture continues to play a role in the local economy, though the presence of Dankuni town has made industry and trade increasingly important. Dankuni is a major transport hub with a large railway junction and road connectivity through National Highway 19 and the Durgapur Expressway. Chanditala is about 13 km from Serampore, the subdivision headquarters, and 36 km from Chinsurah, the district headquarters. Kolkata, the state capital, is located about 25 km away and is easily accessible by road and rail.

(Ajay Jha)

Other nearby towns include Bally at 15 km and Howrah at 20 km. The area is well connected by suburban trains from Dankuni, which link Chanditala to Howrah and Kolkata in less than an hour.

Chanditala, over the years, has emerged as a true bastion of the Trinamool Congress as it has led over its rivals in all seven major elections held here since 2009. The BJP, despite becoming the principal opposition party to the Trinamool in this constituency, is yet to acquire enough support to mount a serious challenge. It would hope for a substantial revival of the Left FrontCongress alliance to breach the Trinamool’s vote base, or a sweeping antiincumbency wave against the Trinamool Congress government. Barring these, or a communal tilt to the campaign that could divide the Hindus and Muslim voters, the Trinamool Congress should not encounter any problem in retaining the Chanditala seat in the 2026 Assembly elections.