Dantan's political journey shows notable swings, starting with support for the extreme right, and then moving to the centre before shifting left, and once again showing signs of tilting towards the right.
Established in 1951, the constituency has taken part in all 17 Assembly elections held in West Bengal so far. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the BJP, won the inaugural 1951 election, followed by two victories each for the Congress and the Bangla Congress. The CPI secured its first of seven wins in 1971, and then Pradyut Kumar Mahanti won back-to-back for the Congress Organisation in 1974 and for the Janata Party in 1977. The CPI’s long reign began in 1981 and continued with six straight victories until the Trinamool Congress broke through.
The CPI’s nominee Arun Mahapatra extended the Lefts hold in 2011 by defeating Trinamool Congress’s Shaibal Giri by 4,650 votes, though this signalled some weakening in the Lefts grip. In 2016, all three major parties fielded new candidates, and Trinamool’s Bikram Chandra Pradhan defeated CPI’s Sisir Kumar Patra by 29,260 votes, with the BJP finishing a distant third. In 2021, the same candidates contested again. Pradhan retained the seat for Trinamool Congress, but the margin shrank to just 623 votes over the BJP, which overtook the CPI to finish second.
Lok Sabha voting trends in the Dantan segment also reflect this flux, with different parties leading in successive elections. In 2009, the CPI led the Trinamool Congress by 20,518 votes. In 2014, Trinamool led CPI by 30,424 votes, in 2019, the BJP led Trinamool by 6,689 votes and in 2024, Trinamool reclaimed the lead over the BJP by 6,334 votes.
Dantan Assembly constituency had 236,503 total electors in the Draft Electoral Roll published under the Special Intensive Revision released on December 16 2025 by the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, marking a modest decline of 6,663 voters compared to 243,166 registered in 2024. Earlier figures stood at 233,841 in 2021, 224,675 in 2019, 211,614 in 2016 and 179,499 in 2011.
No single community or group dominates as numbers remain evenly spread. Scheduled Castes form 9.70 per cent of the voters, Scheduled Tribes 6.68 per cent and Muslims 11.90 per cent. It remains a purely rural constituency with no urban voters. Voter turnout has stayed high and steady though it has declined by nearly nine percentage points over the years, standing at 89.31 per cent in 2011, 84.64 per cent in 2016, 84.50 per cent in 2019, 84.68 per cent in 2021 and 80.49 per cent in 2024.
Dantan lies in a largely flat rural terrain typical of the coastal plains of southern West Bengal, with fertile alluvial soil supporting paddy cultivation as the mainstay of the economy alongside some vegetable farming and small trade. Infrastructure includes the National Highway 16, which passes nearby, providing good road connectivity, while Dantan railway station on the Howrah-Kharagpur line offers rail links. Kharagpur, the subdivisional headquarters, is about 55 km away, Medinipur town, around 70 km, Kolkata, the state capital, roughly 180 km, Belda, about 15 km, and Egra, around 25 km. In neighbouring districts, Jhargram is about 90 km and in Odisha, Balasore lies approximately 50 km away.
Dantan is currently witnessing a clear political churn. The once-dominant Left Front-Congress alliance has become largely irrelevant here, polling less than three per cent over the last three elections. Trinamool Congress’s task to retain the seat may have grown tougher. If the draft roll sees little further change, even the seemingly small deletion of 6,663 names could prove decisive given the narrow margins and leads since 2019. While the community-wise breakdown of deleted names is not yet known, if, as suspected, a majority belong to the Muslim community, it could impact Trinamool the most. With this recent topsy-turvy electoral history and the added layer from the SIR, the 2026 Assembly election in Dantan promises to be close and intensely competitive, likely going down to the wire between Trinamool Congress and the BJP.
(Ajay Jha)
