Established in 1967, Kultali is one of the seven segments of the Jaynagar Lok Sabha seat and covers the entire Kultali community development block and four gram panchayats of Jaynagar II block. The constituency has voted in 14 Assembly elections since its inception. The SUCI(C), which had its base in South 24 Parganas, won the seat 10 times, the CPI(M) registered two victories, while the Congress party and the Trinamool Congress won once each.
The SUCI(C)тАЩs victory run, which included seven consecutive wins between 1977 and 2006, ended in 2011 when CPI(M) nominee Ram Sankar Halder defeated Joy Krishna Halder of the SUCI(C) by 4,813 votes, and retained the seat in 2016 defeating Gopal Majhi of the Trinamool Congress by 11,720 votes as the SUCI(C) slipped to third place. The 2021 election witnessed a new set of winner and runners up as Trinamool Congress candidate Ganesh Chandra Mondal beat BJPтАЩs Mintu Halder by a huge margin of 47,177 votes, while the CPI(M) and SUCI(C) tumbled to third and fourth place.
Lok Sabha elections in the Kultali Assembly segment also reflect a shift in loyalty, leading to the Trinamool consolidating its gains. In 2009, the SUCI(C) led the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) by 5,123 votes; in 2014, the RSP led the SUCI(C) by 18,295 votes; in 2019, the Trinamool led the BJP by 8,411 votes, and in 2024, the Trinamool surged to a lead of 38,407 votes over the BJP.
Kultali has 209,137 registered voters as per the 2026 roll following the revision, marking a sharp decrease of 75,534 voters from 284,671 in 2024. The number of voters stood at 265,561 in 2021, 248,489 in 2019, 230,180 in 2016 and 187,950 in 2011. Kultali had 39.11 per cent Scheduled Caste voters based on the 2011 Census, Scheduled Tribes 1.93 per cent and Muslims 30.60 per cent, though these numbers may have changed after the revision. Kultali is a purely rural seat with no urban voters on its rolls. Voter turnout has remained robust with 89.03 per cent in 2011, 85.98 per cent in 2016, 81.46 per cent in 2019 and 85.65 per cent in 2021.
Kultali lies in the southern part of South 24 Parganas district within the Ganga delta, the terrain is flat and low lying, crisscrossed by rivers and creeks, with the Matla River flowing nearby and tidal waters influencing agriculture and fishing, the economy is based on farming, fishing and small scale cottage industries with paddy, vegetables and fish being the main produce, and because Kultali is close to the Sundarbans many families also depend on honey collection from the mangrove forests which has long been a traditional occupation adding to the distinctive character of the constituency. Road connectivity links Kultali to Baruipur and Canning. The nearest railway station is Jaynagar Majilpur, located approximately 15 km north, which connects the area to Kolkata.
Baruipur, the subdivision headquarters, is 35 km north of Kultali, Alipore in Kolkata, the district headquarters, is 55 km north, Kolkata, the state capital, is 60 km north, Canning is 20 km east, Jaynagar Majilpur is 15 km north, Diamond Harbour is 40 km west, and Kakdwip is 50 km southwest.
The Trinamool CongressтАЩs growing dominance after its victory in the 2021 Assembly elections and leads in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls is now under threat as the sharp decline in the number of registered voters, in which illegal immigrants, especially those from Bangladesh, have been denied voting rights, makes predicting the outcome in the 2026 Assembly elections difficult. It places the BJP at an advantage and the Trinamool Congress at a direct disadvantage. Whether the revision would lead to the BJP winning Kultali for the first time or the Trinamool Congress manages to retain it will be worth watching. Kultali is thus set to witness a close contest in the 2026 polls.
(Ajay Jha)
