West Bengal Assembly election 2021, Domjur profile: BJP eyeing seat after TMC's Rajib Banerjee defects to saffron party

Domjur is an Assembly/Vidhan Sabha constituency in the Howrah district of West Bengal. It falls under the Sreerampur Lok Sabha constituency.

In the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election, the constituency had a total of 2,19,657 registered voters.

As per orders of the Delimitation Commission, Domjur is composed of the following - Bally Jagachha community development block and Bankra I, Bankra II, Bankra III, Makardah II, Narna, Shalap I and Shalap II gram panchayats of Domjur community development block.

Voter turnout in previous election

The voter turnout in Domjur in the previous Assembly election was 84.57 percent.

Past election results and winners

In the 2016 Assembly election, Rajib Banerjee of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) was declared the winner in Domjur constituency. He received a massive 1,48,768 votes, as against 41,067 votes won by Independent candidate Protima Dutta. Dutta became the runner-up, losing by a huge margin of 49.05 percent.

However, sounding discontent against the party for the past several months, the Domjur MLA resigned from the the West Bengal Assembly cabinet on 22 January.

He had spoken against "nepotism" within the leadership and claimed that deserving people were being sidelined.

He resigned from the primary membership of the TMC, on 29 January, after two decades and thanked the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee for the opportunities given to him to serve the people of the state.

"I do hereby tender my resignation as a member of the All India Trinamool Congress as well as from all other positions held by me in the party and its associates with immediate effect," said Rajib in his resignation letter.

A day later, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Five other disgruntled leaders of Mamata's camp switched over with him.

The rebel TMC leaders met Shah at his residence in Delhi, following which they announced their decision to join the saffron party. The home minister, in a tweet, congratulated the politicians, and said he was certain that their induction would "further strengthen BJP's fight for Sonar Bangla".

Former TMC leaders Mr. Rajib Banerjee, Ms. Baishali Dalmiya, Mr. Prabir Ghoshal, Mr. Rathin Chakraborti and Mr. Rudranil Ghosh joined BJP today in New Delhi. I am sure their induction will further strengthen BJP’s fight for Sonar Bangla. pic.twitter.com/twXrHXWCbY

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) January 30, 2021

In the 2011 polls, Rajib retained the Domjur constituency garnering on TMC ticket with 1,01,042 votes. He was pitted against CPM candidate Mohanta Chatterjee, who lost by a margin of 24,986 votes or 13.37 percent.

On 26 February, the Election Commission announced the schedule for Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry.

The voting will begin on 27 March, with Bengal having the maximum eight phases continuing till 29 April, the poll body had said.

The election will be held to elect a total of 294 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

The state is held by the AITC with an absolute majority, with Mamata Banerjee on her second consecutive term as chief minister. The ruling party is fighting a pitched battle with archrival BJP, while the Congress-led alliance is also a key player in the fray.