# Bardhaman Dakshin Assembly constituency

Bardhaman Dakshin Assembly constituency is an assembly constituency in Purba Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

## Overview

As per order of the Delimitation Commission, No. 260 Bardhaman Dakshin Assembly constituency covers Bardhaman municipality.
Bardhaman Dakshin assembly segment is part of No. 39 Bardhaman-Durgapur (Lok Sabha constituency).

## Members of the Legislative Assembly

| Election | Member | Party Affiliation |
| Bardhaman |||
| 1951 | Benoy Choudhury | Communist Party of India |
| 1957 | Benoy Choudhury | Communist Party of India |
| 1962 | Radharani Mahtab | Indian National Congress |
| Bardhaman Dakshin |||
| 1967 | S. B. Chodhury | Indian National Congress |
| 1969 | Benoy Choudhury | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| 1971 | Benoy Choudhury | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| 1972 | Pradip Bhattacharya | Indian National Congress |
| 1977 | Benoy Choudhury | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| 1982 | Benoy Choudhury | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| 1987 | Nirupam Sen | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| 1991 | Shyama Prosad Bose | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| 1996 | Shyama Prosad Bose | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| 2001 | Nirupam Sen | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| 2006 | Nirupam Sen | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| 2011 | Rabi Ranjan Chattopadhyay | Trinamool Congress |
| 2016 | Rabi Ranjan Chattopadhyay | Trinamool Congress |
| 2021 | Khokan Das | ATrinamool Congress |

## Election results
### 2021

West Bengal assembly elections, 2021: Bardhaman Dakshin :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | AITC | Khokan Das | 91,015 | 44.32 | −3.02 |
| | BJP | Sandip Nandi | 82,910 | 40.38 | +32.04 |
| | CPI(M) | Pritha Tah | 23,346 | 11.37 | −20.80 |
| | BSP | Pushpa Hansda | 1,455 | 0.71 | |
| | NRPOI | Rajib Paswan | 983 | 0.45 | |
| | SUCI(C) | Anirudha Kundu | 797 | 0.39 | |
| | Independent | Arindam Ghosh | 581 | 0.28 | |
| | BMUP | Luxmi Narayan Koda | 551 | 0.27 | |
| | NOTA | None of the above | 3,707 | 1.81 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 205,345 | | |
| | AITC hold | AITC hold | Swing | | |

### 2016

2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election: Bardhaman Dakshin :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | AITC | Rabi Ranjan Chattopadhyay | 91,882 | 47.34 |
| | CPI(M) | Ainul Haque | 62,444 | 32.17 |
| | Independent | Samir Kumar Roy | 17,205 | 8.86 |
| | BJP | Prabal Roy | 16,192 | 8.34 |
| | BSP | Md Harun | 1,616 | 0.83 |
| | SUCI(C) | Parikshit Gorain | 1,363 | 0.70 |
| | NOTA | None of the above | 3,394 | 1.75 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | AITC hold | AITC hold | Swing | |

### 2011

In the 2011 elections, Rabiranjan Chattopadhyay of Trinamool Congress defeated his nearest rival Nirupam Sen of CPI(M).
West Bengal assembly elections, 2011: Bardhaman Dakshin :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | AITC | Rabiranjan Chattopadhyay | 107,520 | 57.7 | +14.23# |
| | CPI(M) | Nirupam Sen | 70,606 | 37.89 | −18.64 |
| | BJP | Sandip Nandi | 5,621 | 3.02 | |
| | BSP | Md. Harun | 2,593 | 1.39 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 186,338 | 87.11 | |
| | AITC gain from CPI(M) | AITC gain from CPI(M) | Swing | +32.87 | |
.# Swing calculated on Congress+Trinamool Congress vote percentages taken together, as well as the CPI(M) vote percentage, in 2006, for Bardhaman Dakshin constituency.

### 1967-2006

Nirupam Sen of CPI (M) won the Bardhaman Dakshin assembly seat in 2006 and 2001 state assembly elections defeating his nearest rivals Samir Kumar Roy and Paresh Chandra Sarkar (both of Trinamool Congress) in the respective years. Contests in most years were multi cornered but only winners and runners are being mentioned. In 1996 and 1991, Shyamaprosad Bose of CPI (M) defeated Sadhan Kumar Ghosh and Shyamadas Banerjee (both of Congress) in respective years. In 1987, Nirupam Sen of CPI (M) defeated Pradip Bhattacharya of Congress. In 1982 and 1977, Kaustav Roy of CPI (M) defeated Shyamadas Banerjee and Pradip Bhattacharya (both of Congress) in the respective years. Pradip Bhattacharya of Congress won the seat in 1972. Benoy Choudhury of CPI (M) won the seat in 1971 and 1969. S.B.Chowdhury of Congress won the seat in 1967. However, both in 1982 and 1987, the preferred choice of candidate was Sujit Chandra Das of the Indian National Congress. Some unconfirmed sources suggest that in order to avoid infighting within the party & also due to some differences with the then State Pradesh Congress leadership, he opted not to contest the elections.
It is, however, believed that the Congress would not have lost the seat in 1987 had the Congress nominated Sujit Chandra Das instead of Pradip Bhattacharya & Shyamadas Banerjee. Such was the reputation, popularity & charisma of Sujit Das that even various prominent CPI(M) politburo members like Benoy Chowdhury & the then ministers in the Left front cabinet Nirupam Sen & Nisith Adhikary had in one interview acknowledged that it would have been difficult for the CPI(M) to retain the Burdwan South seat both in 1982 & 1987 if Sujit Das had contested the elections on a Congress ticket. He was one of the very few congress leaders to be admired by the CPI(M), at large. Ministers like Nisith Adhikary used to stay in his house. He was much loved across political boundaries.
Due to internal factionalism and on account of some personal reasons, Sujit Das, then an employee of Burdwan University had opted to stay out of the electoral race mostly due to a fallout with Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, else various sources [though unconfirmed] revealed he would have had defeated Nirupam Sen in 1987 as well as in 1982. Senior Congress leaders from the district like Manteswar MLA Tuhin Samanta, MLA from Faridpur Ajit Bandhopadyay, MLA Jamalpur Puranjoy Pramanick, Nurul Islam, Galsi MLA Ashwini Roy, had in a petition to the congress high command proposed his name for the 1977 Assembly Elections during the strong anti incumbency of the WB Congress party. He was the sole architect who arranged for funds and had orchestrated the entire win for Pradip Bhattacharya in 1972. Pradip Bhattacharya, also a prominent youth leader in the early 1970s, became the Labour Minister in the Siddhartha Shankar Ray led ministry. It is he [Sujit Das] who had proposed the name of Shyamadas Banerjee as a Congress candidate in 1982. Mostly a trouble shooter for the party during crisis, Sujit Das, an avid sportsperson and district cricket team captain was a very prominent Chattra Parishad student leader and hailed from one of the reputed and wealthiest families in Burdwan. His popularity in town had no political boundaries. Leaders, members and workers from across parties admired his personality, helpful nature and honesty. He was even offered to contest in a Congress ticket from Galsi Assembly seat, which he eventually refused. One of his brothers had served as the Chairman of Burdwan Municipality. Many of his family members had served as Councillors of Burdwan Municipality.

### 1951-1962

Radharani Mahtab of Congress won the Bardhaman seat in 1962. Benoy Choudhuri representing CPI won the seat in 1957 and 1951.