Bengal constituency profile: In tony Rashbehari, battle royal between BJP’s ideologue and TMC’s warhorse
The Statesman | 27 April 2026
The sprawling mega-city’s tony Rashbehari constituency, lined with ageing upper-class homes, is witnessing a battle royal between BJP’s Swapan Dasgupta, an intellectual-turned-politician, and TMC’s incumbent MLA Debasish Kumar.
The area on both sides of the wide Rashbehari Avenue slicing south Kolkata from Kalighat to Ballygunge has been home to some of Bengal’s best and brightest, among whom are descendants of the state’s intellectual elite, ranging from famous linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji to well-known feminist writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen (Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen’s first wife) to Dwarka Nath Gooptu, who is celebrated for inventing an anti-dote to malaria. At first sight, Kumar, a TMC warhorse and Member of the Mayor-in-Council of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, should be a perfect shoo-in. He won last time round by a margin of nearly 21,000 votes and remains extremely popular for his hands-on approach to solving problems in his neighbourhood.
However, this time, he has been facing a somewhat daunting task in the run-up to the election. Last week, properties linked to him were raided by the Income Tax department. Kumar has also earlier faced questioning by the Enforcement Directorate after his name surfaced in a case involving a businessman whom the agency suspects of being involved in grabbing large parcels of disputed land.
The searches triggered protests outside Kumar’s residence, where TMC workers raised slogans against central agencies.
An unperturbed Kumar was, however, sipping tea and munching on butter toast at the popular Radhu Babu tea shop, made famous by a Bappi Lahiri song on the street food of Kolkata, when UNI caught up with him.”I think we will win. The first phase of elections has shown the way. People of Bengal do not accept BJP’s attack on ‘Bangali Asmita’ (Bengali pride or culture),” Kumar told UNI, adding, “This entire Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls has simply cut out lakhs of genuine citizens and debarred them from voting. This show of force by the BJP through various ways will not work. Bengal will win.
“Swapan Dasgupta, who, after being a Rajya Sabha MP and party ideologue, has been fielded from this constituency, has also had tea at Radhu Babu’s in a bid to interact with his voters. The event has not gone unnoticed by Kumar, who said with a smile, “I come here 365 days … Swapan da is welcome to join me for tea any day.”In a separate interview with UNI, Dasgupta argued that a shift of as little as 5 per cent in vote share could unseat the ruling All India Trinamool Congress led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee in the state.”We need a 5 per cent swing for the government to change, and that’s not much to ask,” he said. “There are indications that the swing may be greater.”However, the swing needed at Rashbehari would be far more – over 8.5 per cent. But a large chunk of middle-class voters of Rashbehari, who feel Bengal needs industry and jobs, may just tilt towards him.
Dasgupta built his career in journalism, writing for publications including The Indian Express, The Statesman and India Today, before emerging as a prominent conservative commentator and later entering politics. He contends that voter sentiment, particularly among the urban middle classes, is shifting in response to limited job creation and continued outward migration. “People are fed up with the politics of doles without jobs,” he said, pointing to a steady exodus of young professionals to cities such as Bengaluru.”Middle-class Bengalis see their children leaving home in search of work and a bleak future here,” he added. “Parts of South Kolkata and New Town are increasingly becoming retirement zones rather than centres of economic dynamism.”West Bengal, once among India’s leading industrial hubs, has struggled to regain economic momentum after decades of deindustrialisation during the Left Front rule. Dasgupta argues that the state’s decline has been marked by the relocation or closure of businesses, leaving Kolkata with a diminished corporate base.
However, Kumar has presided over a system which has encouraged food-prenuers to set up row after row of cafes, book-cafes and specialised up-market restaurants in the streets and alleys of Rashbehari. Specialised knowledge industries, consultancies and publishing offices dot the hitherto quiet neighbourhood, helping spawn jobs and business for the busy markets of Rashbehari and Gariahat, almost as if to thumb a nose at those who point to Bengal’s industrial decline.
Beyond economic concerns, Dasgupta pointed to what he described as a broader deterioration in governance, including the spread of corruption into everyday transactions. He alleged that informal payments, commonly referred to as “cut money”, have become entrenched across sectors.
However, as an artist-turned design entrepreneur, Bapi Saha, from the area says, “People here want someone they can turn to for the civic woes that they face – from getting permissions to alter their homes into small offices or café to getting admissions for their children … we need a man who is connected to us. MLAs don’t decide the nation’s future; they are hands-on support systems for citizens.”