Established in 1951, Moyna has taken part in all 17 Assembly elections held in West Bengal. The CPI(M) won six times and the CPI five times, with the Congress party securing three victories. The Trinamool Congress took the seat twice, while the BJP has one win to its credit.
Bhushan Chandra Dolai gave the Trinamool Congress its first victory here in 2011, defeating sitting CPI(M) MLA Sk Mujibur Rahman by 9,957 votes. Dolai held the seat in 2016 with a bigger margin of 12,124 votes against Congress’s Manik Bhowmik. The BJP, which had polled just 2.59 per cent in 2011 and 3.24 per cent in 2016, made a dramatic breakthrough in 2021 when its candidate Ashok Dinda, a former Indian cricketer, won by 1,260 votes over Trinamool’s Sangram Dolui.
Lok Sabha trends from the Moyna Assembly segment follow a similar path. The Trinamool Congress led the CPI(M) by 16,912 votes in 2009 and 39,803 votes in 2014. The BJP, with 1.53 per cent in 2009 and 4.64 per cent in 2014, surged to 42.70 per cent in 2019, though Trinamool still led by 12,383 votes. The BJP then took the lead in 2024 by 9,948 votes over Trinamool.
Moyna had 268,091 registered voters in 2024, up from 255,164 in 2021, 244,503 in 2019, 230,099 in 2016, and 196,999 in 2011. Scheduled Castes form the largest group at 22.15 per cent, followed by Muslims at 11.10 per cent. It is a mainly rural seat, with 94.69 per cent of voters in villages and 5.32 per cent in urban pockets. Turnout stays high, at 90.67 per cent in 2011, 87.40 per cent in 2016, and 88.09 per cent in 2021 for Assembly polls, dipping slightly to 85.16 per cent in 2019 and 84.04 per cent in 2024 for Lok Sabha elections.
Moyna has a recorded history centred on Moynagarh, a fortified settlement that once stood as a powerful local kingdom in the Medinipur region. The fort, also known as Killah Moynachoura, lies near the ancient port city of Tamralipta and was encircled by concentric moats, mounds and dense forests, making it a difficult target for invaders. Local traditions and historical accounts link Moynagarh to the legendary King Lausen of the Dharmamangal literature and later to the Bahubalindra royal family, who moved their capital here in the sixteenth century, fortified the site and resisted neighbouring chiefs and incursions from the Bengal sultans. Over time, the fort declined, but its temples, shrines and dargah, along with the surviving earthworks and moats, continue to testify to Moyna’s past as an important political and religious centre in coastal Bengal.
Moyna lies in the upper Indo-Gangetic plain and eastern coastal plains of Purba Medinipur, part of the deltaic terrain fed by rivers like the Haldi, Rupnarayan, Rasulpur, Bagui, and Keleghai. The area faces regular tidal floods, with flat, fertile land suited to agriculture but vulnerable to waterlogging and cyclones. Embankments and drainage canals help manage inundation, while tube wells and shallow irrigation support multiple crops a year.
Agriculture forms the mainstay of its economy, with paddy as the principal crop alongside pulses, oilseeds, and vegetables. Pisciculture thrives in ponds and channels, contributing a significant income and employing thousands in Moyna. River water aids irrigation, though backflow from tides affects low lying fields. Rural markets, small trade, and daily wage work supplement farm incomes.
Moyna connects to Tamluk, about 17 km east, and Kolaghat, around 19 km north by road and rail. Kolkata lies roughly 90 to 96 km west. Panskura is 13 km north, Haldia 46 km south east, and Kharagpur 51 km south west. The district headquarters at Tamluk is 17 km away, while other Purba Medinipur towns like Egra and Contai fall within 40 to 60 km.
The Left Front-Congress alliance has slipped into political oblivion in Moyna by polling just 2.28 per cent in 2021 and 3.04 per cent in 2024, and is unlikely to have any impact on the 2026 Assembly election, which is now shaping up as a straight fight between the BJP, which won the seat in 2021 and led in 2024, and the Trinamool Congress, which will try to win it back.
(Ajay Jha)
