Bengal Assembly Polls: Trinamool, BJP Fight For North Bengal Amid Changing Political Equations

All seven districts in north Bengal are set to go to polls in the remaining five phases of the assembly elections to be held between April 10 and April 29.

North Bengal, with its 54 seats spread across seven districts, has the capability to become a game-changer this election as the BJP strives hard to hold onto its fort in the region and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) seeks to recover its lost ground amid changing political equations. Once considered a bastion of the Congress and the Left Front, north Bengal districts - mostly dominated by tribal and minority communities -- have largely remained out of bounds for the TMC, barring a brief period of time. The ruling camp had managed to fare well in the 2016 state polls, when it won 25 seats in the region. But the subsequent general election in 2019 changed the course of the wind in favour of the BJP, which won seven of the eight Lok Sabha seats and stayed ahead in 35 assembly segments. The TMC, after the Lok Sabha poll debacle, has managed to woo back Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader Bimal Gurung, who holds sway over at least 15 assembly seats and 11 Gorkha communities.