Kolkata, March 29
Serampore constituency in West Bengal will witness a close contest between Trinamool Congress candidate Kalyan Banerjee and his former son-in-law Kabir Shankar Bose contesting on the BJP ticket in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

Trinamool has re-nominated its three-time sitting Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee who won the 2019 general election by nearly one lakh votes in the midst of a strong BJP wave.

However, Banerjee faces isolation from a section of his party leadership and workers due to his “short-tempered” nature and the habit of "abusing" his subordinates.

Banerjee had been in the headlines in the past also due to his misbehaviour with the media persons. He also faced rampant criticism for his slanderous remarks against former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, though later he apologised for his remarks.

However, Banerjee says that he is a straightforward person who prefers calling a spade a spade. “My principal advantage is on the faith of the common voters of Serampore and over the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,” he said.

BJP candidate Kabir Shankar Bose is a practising counsel with the Supreme Court and also the former son-in-law of Banerjee. Bose says that his past matrimonial links with the sitting Lok Sabha member will not be a factor in the electoral battle.

“Everyone has a past but this is a political battle which I will handle politically,” said Bose. On Banerjee’s confidence for the fourth consecutive win, Bose said that time will decide who wins and who loses.

Also in the poll fray is the CPI(M)’s young face Dipsita Dhar, who had been in the national limelight as the former students’ leader of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and former National Joint Secretary of the party’s students wing, SFI.

“We are here to listen to the common people and voice their concerns. So let my opponents play T20 matches and let me interact with common people,” Dhar said.

Dhar said that she is concentrating more on door-to-door campaigns rather than big rallies or meetings.

Since 1971, Serampore witnessed frequent changes in voting patterns between CPI(M), Congress and Trinamool Congress. However, since the 2009 general election, Banerjee for the Trinamool has been winning successfully.

With a voter strength of over 16 lakh voters, the prime concern of the constituency is the series of close industrial units especially the jute mills, which once made this constituency a thriving industrial belt.

The once iconic Ambassador car manufacturing unit of Hindustan Motors Limited is also located in Serampore.

Constituency watch: Bengal’s Serampore to witness clash between Trinamool MP and his former son-in-law