Bolpur Lok Sabha constituency: Contest between TMC's Asit Kumar Mal and BJP's Piya Saha in Tagore's land

Birbhum (West Bengal) [India], May 12 : Bolpur, a land intertwined with the legacy of Rabindranath Tagore and his iconic Shantiniketan, is bracing itself for a electoral contest. The stage is set for a face-off between the TMC's Asit Kumar Mal and the BJP's Piya Saha in this culturally rich constituency.
The Bolpur constituency comprises seven assembly segments, including Ketugram, Mangalkot, Ausgram, Bolpur, Nanoor, Labpur, and Mayureswar. These segments are spread across two districts, Birbhum and Purba Bardhaman, each with its own unique socio-economic characteristics.
The upcoming election will see Asit Kumar Mal, the incumbent Member of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress party, seeking a third term in the lower house of Parliament. He will be contesting against the BJP's Piya Saha. The TMC has won twice since the 2009 elections, reflecting the party's strong presence in the region.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Asit Kumar Mal emerged victorious, defeating Ramprasad Das of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mal secured a total of 699,171 votes. This victory followed the 2014 elections, where TMC's Anupam Hazra won the seat, securing 630,693 votes and defeating Dome Ramchandra of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Bolpur is renowned as a cultural and educational hub. It is home to Visva Bharati University, established by the Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore.
The city also includes Santiniketan, a residential school and a centre for the arts in rural West Bengal, founded by Tagore in 1901.
Santiniketan has been recognised as the 41st UNESCO World Heritage Site in India. This prestigious recognition makes it the third such site in West Bengal, joining the ranks of the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, and the Darjeeling Mountain Railways, a historic and scenic railway line.
Bolpur, a place of rich cultural heritage in the Birbhum district, is also renowned for its association with several eminent personalities. It is the proud home of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and has been represented in Parliament by the former Lok Sabha speaker, Somnath Chatterjee.
The town is also linked to a host of Bengali intellectuals, including internationally acclaimed painters and sculptors like Somnath Hore. Furthermore, the Birbhum district, where Bolpur is located, is known for housing the ancestral village of former President Pranab Mukherjee.
The polling in the Bolpur Lok Sabha constituency is scheduled for May 13, alongside other key constituencies like Baharampur, Krishnanagar, Ranaghat, Bardhaman Purba, Burdwan-Durgapur, Asansol, and Birbhum.
West Bengal, along with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, is one of the few states where the 2024 Lok Sabha election will be held in all seven phases.
The first three phases have already been conducted, and the remaining constituencies will cast their votes on May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.