Established in 1951, this was originally a twin-seat constituency named Burwan Khargram. It disappeared from the map in 1957 and was revived as Khargram ahead of the 1962 election. It is composed of the entire Khargram community development block, along with Kalyanpur I and Kalyanpur II gram panchayats of Burwan block, and is one of the seven segments of the Jangipur Lok Sabha seat. Khargram has participated in 16 of the 17 Assembly elections held so far in West Bengal. The CPI(M) won the seat seven times in a row between 1977 and 2006 while it headed the Left Front government in the state. The Congress has registered five victories, including both seats in 1951, while the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Trinamool Congress have won the seat twice each.
The CPI(M)’s 34-year hold over Khargram ended in 2011, when the Congress, contesting as the junior partner in an alliance with the Trinamool Congress, took the seat. Asish Marjit won for the Congress, defeating CPI(M)’s Goutam Mondal by 8,970 votes. After the alliance broke down, Marjit switched to the Trinamool Congress and retained the seat twice in succession for his new party. He defeated the Congress’s Madhab Chandra Marjit by 33,173 votes in 2016 and the BJP’s Aditya Moulik by 32,573 votes in 2021.
Voting trends in the Lok Sabha elections in the Khargram segment also show the Trinamool Congress gaining ground mainly at the expense of the Congress party. The Congress led the CPI(M) by 11,654 votes in 2009 and by 6,231 votes in 2014. In 2019, both parties slipped to third and fourth place as the Trinamool moved ahead of the BJP by 29,474 votes. In 2024, the Trinamool’s lead over the BJP narrowed slightly but remained strong at 27,148 votes.
Khargram had 242,073 registered voters in 2024, up from 228,923 in 2021, 218,291 in 2019, 204,103 in 2016 and 172,961 in 2011. Though the constituency is reserved for the Scheduled Castes, who account for 22.06 per cent of voters, they are outnumbered by Muslims, who form 50.30 per cent of the electorate, while the Scheduled Tribes make up 1.20 per cent. It is a purely rural constituency with no urban voters on its rolls. Voter turnout has fluctuated over the last decade and a half, with 85.75 per cent recorded in 2011, 79.36 per cent in 2016, 79.94 per cent in 2019, 81.22 per cent in 2021 and 77.03 per cent in 2024.
Khargram lies in the Kandi subdivision on the western side of Murshidabad district, in the slightly higher Rarh tract west of the Bhagirathi. The land here rises gently as part of the eastern fringe of the Chotanagpur Plateau and is composed of a mix of undulating uplands and low-lying fields, featuring lateritic patches, ponds, and small channels. Rivers such as the Mayurakshi, Dwaraka, and Babla, which flow down from neighbouring Birbhum, shape much of the local drainage pattern around Kandi and its surrounding blocks. Agriculture is the mainstay of the local economy, with paddy as the principal crop, backed by wheat, oilseeds, pulses, along with some jute and vegetables in better-irrigated areas. Small rice mills, brickfields, shops and rural markets provide additional non-farm work, but most households still depend on farming, daily wage labour and seasonal migration to bigger towns.
Khargram is connected by road to Kandi, Berhampore and other parts of the Murshidabad district. Kandi, the subdivisional headquarters, lies about 18 km away by road and serves as the nearest town for markets, hospitals and government offices. Berhampore, the district headquarters, is roughly 27 to 30 km away and is the main administrative and commercial centre of the district. The nearest significant railway links are around Berhampore Court and other stations on the Sealdah-Lalgola line, which connect the area to Krishnanagar, Ranaghat and Kolkata. Kolkata, the state capital, lies much further south, at a distance of well over 180 km by road via Berhampore and the state and national highways. To the west, Khargram looks towards towns such as Rampurhat and Sainthia in Birbhum, roughly 45 to 60 km away, and towards Pakur and Dumka in neighbouring Jharkhand.
Overall, the data suggest that the Trinamool Congress goes into the 2026 Assembly election in Khargram with a clear edge. It has recorded two comfortable Assembly victories since 2016, and strong Lok Sabha leads over the BJP in both 2019 and 2024, while the Congress and CPI(M) have both been pushed to the margins after once dominating this seat. The BJP has emerged as the main challenger but still trails the Trinamool by sizeable margins and faces the added handicap of operating in a Muslim-majority constituency where its appeal is limited. Unless there is a sharp and unexpected shift in Muslim support away from the Trinamool or a significant erosion of Scheduled Caste backing, Khargram is likely to remain in the Trinamool Congress column in 2026, with the BJP still some distance away from gaining enough strength to dislodge the party from its stronghold.
(Ajay Jha)
