Ranaghat Uttar Paschim includes the district headquarters Ranaghat town, the entire Ranaghat municipality, Taherpur notified area, Bimagar municipality, Fulia township, along with four gram panchayats of the Ranaghat I block and two gram panchayats of the Santipur block, giving the seat an urban character.
The Delimitation Commission reshaped boundaries, but the voters of Ranaghat Uttar Paschim have consistently shifted their allegiance in the three elections since 2011, electing three different parties. Trinamool Congress won the 2011 contest with Parthasarathi Chatterjee as its candidate, defeating CPI(M)'s Meena Bhattacharya by 27,344 votes. Congress won in 2016 with Shankar Sinha, who overcame Trinamool’s sitting MLA Chatterjee by 23,420 votes. The BJP, which had polled a symbolic 3.64 and 4.86 per cent of votes in 2011 and 2016, surged spectacularly in 2021. Parthasarathi Chatterjee switched allegiance from Trinamool Congress to BJP and claimed victory, defeating the sitting MLA Shankar Singha, who himself had defected from Congress to Trinamool. Chatterjee won by 23,128 votes.
Parliamentary election trends mirror this evolution. The Trinamool Congress led the CPI(M) by 20,619 votes in 2009 and 29,012 votes in 2014, while the BJP started on the margins, polling just 4.75 per cent and 18.70 per cent. By 2019, the BJP established a massive lead of 44,432 votes, which stood at 34,199 votes in 2024, with Trinamool Congress finishing a distant second and CPI(M) reduced to 6.61 per cent and 8.11 per cent in the last two elections.
Ranaghat Uttar Paschim had 267,218 registered voters in 2024, rising from 265,846 in 2021 and 254,242 in 2019. According to the 2011 census, Scheduled Castes comprised 29.80 per cent of the population and Scheduled Tribes 2.25 per cent. The seat is urban in character, with 72.50 per cent urban voters. Rural voters make up 27.50 per cent. Voter turnout remains robust, consistently above 80 per cent, peaking at 88.09 per cent in 2011 and dipping to 82.30 per cent in 2024. Turnout has gradually declined, standing at 86.56 per cent in 2016, 84.43 per cent in 2019, and 83.96 per cent in 2021.
Ranaghat, as a town, carries a storied history. It became a refuge for Hindus migrating from Bangladesh after the 1971 war with Pakistan. The Ranaghat Cooper's Camp was a significant transit hub, absorbing thousands of refugees and shaping the town’s demographic and social profile. The town is located 71 km north of Kolkata and 27 km south of Krishnanagar. It sits on the banks of the Churni River amid fertile alluvial plains typical of southern Nadia, with recurring floods due to river siltation. The economy is driven by trade, small manufacturing, handloom, and agricultural support. Ranaghat’s infrastructure includes robust road and rail links, educational institutions, hospitals, banks, and regular municipal services.
Taherpur is 15 km from Ranaghat, Fulia is 12 km away, Bimagar municipality is adjacent, and Krishnanagar, the district headquarters, is 27 km to the north. Santipur is within 18 km, and Chakdaha lies 82 km to the south. Kolkata, the state capital, is 71 km away by road and rail. The Bangladesh border is about 298 km from Ranaghat. Chowgacha, a town in Bangladesh, is connected by rail via the international border but not directly by road.
With the BJP having led with comfortable margins in the last three elections, it enters the 2026 Assembly election with a definite edge over the Trinamool Congress. Barring an upset or dramatic change in voter sentiment, the BJP remains the favourite for Ranaghat Uttar Paschim, and it is their seat to lose.
(Ajay Jha)
