BJP Declares Last Seat From Bengal, Fields Abhijit Das Against Abhishek Banerjee in Diamond Harbour

Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released 12th list of seven candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, fielding Dr Abhijit Das (Bobby) against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee from Diamond Harbour constituency. 

Banerjee, President of Trinamool Youth Congress since 2011, has represented the Diamond Harbour seat in the Lok Sabha since 2014. Notably, the TMC heavyweight had already defeated Bobby from the segment during 2014 Lok Sabha polls. 

Lok Sabha Elections 2014:

• Abhishek Banerjee- TMC (WON) | Votes: 508,481
• Abhijit Das (Bobby)- BJP (Defeated) | Votes: 200,858

Bobby was fielded from the same seat in the 2009 polls when he lost to TMC Candidate Somen Mitra by over 5 lakh vote margin.  

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP experimented change of guard by fielding Nilanjan Roy against Banerjee, however, the TMC candidate won by over 3 lakh votes. 

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: 

• Abhishek Banerjee- TMC (WON) | Votes: 791,127
• Nilanjan Roy- BJP (Defeated) | Votes: 4,70,533

Who Is Abhijit Das? 

Diamond Harbour's Abhijit Das was a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Pracharak prior to joining active politics. He was first given BJP ticket in 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the Diamond Harbour. After his unsuccessful contest against Somen Mitra, BJP again pitted him against Banerjee in 2014 elections. Bobby has been an activist since early days when he was inspired by the ideology the RSS. Subsequently, he joined active politics and joined BJP.