Voting machines in Bidhannagar to feature Congress symbol after two decades
Telegraph | 28 April 2026
Voting machines in the Bidhannagar Assembly constituency will feature both the Congress and the CPM symbols after a gap of two decades.
The Congress and the Left Front had contested in alliance in 2016 and 2021, while in 2011 the Congress was aligned with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which fielded Sujit Bose — the sitting representative since then.
Ranajit Mukherjee, a Salt Lake resident contesting on a Congress ticket, said he had been campaigning to challenge the perception of a binary contest between the TMC and the BJP.
“The BJP is not coming to power in Bengal. The image of its candidate going around carrying a 2kg fish underlines its outsider status,” said the 46-year-old communications management postgraduate, referring to BJP nominee Sharadwat Mukhopadhyay, who recently used the gesture to assure voters his party would not enforce vegetarianism in the state.
Ranajit said Bidhannagar was envisioned as a model township by Bidhan Chandra Roy. “However, it has not achieved its potential...,” said Ranajit, whose father, Prasun Mukherjee, is a former city police commissioner.
On the role of the Left, he said it remained a social force but had lost electoral relevance.
Isha Khan Choudhury, Congress MP from Malda South, alleged that both the BJP and Trinamool were using institutions for political advantage. “The BJP has captured central institutions, while the TMC controls state machinery,” he said.