New Delhi, April 7 (AHN) Since the Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011, it has slowly but steadily consolidated seats for itself, starting with 184, rising to 211 in 2016, and finally collecting 215 in the 2021 Assembly election.

Murshidabad, a district making headlines for protests turning violent on occasions earlier, and on Tuesday, for having the maximum number of names deleted from the voters’ list, is an example where the state’s ruling party managed to establish itself convincingly only after the 2021 Assembly election.

The Trinamool managed to win as many as 15 of the 22 Assembly constituencies in the district in the last state election, making a clean sweep, except for two constituencies that went to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Among these two seats is Baharampur, where the Congress won in both 2011 and 2016, before the BJP managed to wrest it in 2021.

The result was similar in Murshidabad Assembly constituency, where the BJP defeated the Congress in 2021.

According to the last-held Census of 2011, among the sub-divisions of the district (Community Development Blocks), Muslims and Hindus in Berhampore comprised 53.63 per cent and 45.94 per cent, respectively.

The numbers for Murshidabad-Jiaganj stood at 54.52 per cent and 44.61 per cent. But in most other sub-divisions, the percentage of Muslim population is much higher.

The Trinamool government’s pro-minority stand and targeted welfare schemes are said to have largely come together in sweeping all but the two Assembly seats in Murshidabad.

Census 2011 recorded that Hindus made up 33.21 per cent, Muslims 66.27 per cent, Christians 0.25 per cent, and others comprised the rest of the then district population of 71,03,807.

Muslims were found to be mostly concentrated on the banks of the Padma River along the Bangladesh border, while Hindus were more in the urban areas.

Meanwhile, in the 2021 Assembly election, among the seats the Trinamool managed to score its maiden win in the district were Bhagwangola, Nabagram, Domkal, and Jalangi, defeating the closest rivals who were sitting MLAs from the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

In the other Assembly constituencies, like Farakka, Suti, Lalgola, Raninagar, Khargram, Burwan, Kandi, Bharatpur, Rejinagar, Beldanga, and Nowda, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party managed to defeat the sitting MLAs from Congress.

Despite losing to the Left Front in the 1977 Assembly election and its subsequent waning, the Congress held considerable sway in the district, thanks largely to Adhir Ranjan Choudhury.

The former Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha (2019–2024) was hailed for his benevolence and social work, earning him sobriquets like “Robin Hood of Murshidabad” and “Nawab of Murshidabad”.

His spirited resistance to the then Left Front and later, the Trinamool government, made folklores of bravery in the region.

He is known for his fiery speeches and his then ability to mobilise local support, becoming synonymous with Congress’s survival in the state.

He made his election foray in 1996 as a Member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Nabagram.

He also represented the Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency five successive times, in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. His consistent victories made Baharampur one of the few Congress bastions in West Bengal.

But in 2024, Choudhury lost Baharampur to former cricketer and Trinamool Congress candidate Yusuf Pathan, ending a 25-year winning streak. This was a major setback, both personally and for the state Congress. He has re-entered Assembly politics in 2026, contesting from Berhampore Assembly in this month’s poll.

Among the other two Parliamentary constituencies in Murshidabad district is Jangipur, that sent Pranab Mukherjee (2004 and 2009) and his son Abhijit Mukherjee (2011 bye-election and 2014 polls) to Lok Sabha, both from the Congress party.

The constituency has since been taken by the Trinamool Congress in 2019, which again retained it in 2024.

In Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency, the Congress ceded power to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in 2014. But since 2019, the seat has again gone to the ruling Trinamool Congress twice successively.

Assembly election in Murshidabad district will be held in the first phase on April 23. There will be another round of poll in West Bengal on April 29. Results are expected to be announced on May 4.