Krishnanagar has a fascinating history. It is believed to be named after Raja Krishnachandra Roy, one of the most influential Hindu rulers of the 18th-century Bengal from the Nadia Raj family. He is remembered for his patronage of the arts and is credited with resisting Mughal rule. History, however, also recalls him among those who facilitated the establishment of British colonial rule in India. Along with several others, he conspired against Siraj ud-Daulah, the last Nawab of Bengal. He colluded with Robert Clive, leading to Siraj’s defeat at the hands of the East India Company in the Battle of Plassey.
Krishnanagar was made the headquarters when the British created the Nadia district in 1787. It became a municipality in 1864, making it one of the oldest in Bengal.
Nadia district was briefly part of East Pakistan following India’s partition in 1947, along with adjoining Muslim-majority areas such as Murshidabad, Malda and West Dinajpur. On August 17, 1947, these areas were transferred back to India by the Radcliffe Commission to ensure the Hooghly River remained entirely within Indian territory and to maintain connectivity between Kolkata and Guwahati. The district became Hindu-majority due to the influx of Bengali Hindus from East Pakistan in 1947 and again in 1971.
The political history of Krishnanagar is equally intriguing. It was designated as an Assembly constituency in 1951. Ahead of the 1967 elections, it was bifurcated into Krishnanagar East and Krishnanagar West. The Delimitation Commission later scrapped these and created Krishnanagar Uttar and Krishnanagar Dakshin ahead of the 2011 Assembly elections. Krishnanagar Uttar comprises the entire Krishnanagar municipality along with five gram panchayats from the Krishnanagar I community development block.
Krishnanagar is situated in the moribund portion of the Gangetic Delta, on the southern banks of the Jalangi River, a tributary of the Ganga. The river flows east to west and meets the Bhagirathi about 10 kilometres northwest of the town. The terrain is flat and fertile.
The economy is largely agrarian in the surrounding rural areas, with paddy, jute and vegetables as the main crops. The town is known for its clay modelling and handicrafts, especially from the Ghurni neighbourhood. Krishnanagar also serves as a commercial hub for the district.
Infrastructure is reasonably developed. The town is connected to Kolkata, about 100 km to the south, by both road and rail. Krishnanagar City Junction is a key station on the Sealdah–Lalgola line. Nearby towns include Ranaghat at 26 km, Santipur at 18 km and Nabadwip at 16 km. Across the border in Bangladesh, Kushtia is the closest major city, located roughly 60 km to the east.
Another chapter to Krishnanagar’s enthralling history was added by its incumbent MLA Mukul Roy, whose political affiliation remains unclear. Roy, a close associate of Trinamool Congress founder Mamata Banerjee, quit the party and joined the BJP in 2017. He contested the Krishnanagar Uttar seat as a BJP nominee in 2021 and won by 35,089 votes, defeating Trinamool’s Kaushani Mukherjee. Within months of the election, he appeared alongside Mamata Banerjee to announce his return to Trinamool Congress. BJP petitioned the Assembly Speaker to disqualify him under the anti-defection law. However, Roy’s lawyer later informed the Speaker that his client had never formally rejoined Trinamool. The disqualification proceedings were dropped, and Roy technically continues as a BJP MLA without being part of the party.
Trinamool Congress had previously won Krishnanagar Uttar twice in 2011 and 2016 with Abani Mohan Joardar as its candidate. He defeated CPI(M)’s sitting Krishnanagar East MLA Subinay Ghosh by 35,110 votes in 2011 and retained the seat in 2016 by defeating Congress’s Asim Kumar Saha with a margin of 12,915 votes. Joardar’s death in 2020 altered the political dynamics, leading Trinamool to field Kaushani Mukherjee against Mukul Roy.
BJP’s 2021 victory cannot be credited solely to Roy. The party had already demonstrated its growing influence in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, leading in the Krishnanagar Uttar segment by 53,551 votes over Trinamool Congress. This likely explains why Roy did not resign as MLA after switching sides. Neither he nor Trinamool seemed confident of winning the seat in a by-election. Their apprehensions were confirmed in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, where the BJP once again led by a similar margin of 53,470 votes.
Krishnanagar Uttar had 246,385 registered voters in 2024, up from 238,220 in 2021 and 229,355 in 2019. Scheduled Caste voters formed the most significant bloc in 2021, accounting for 29.13 per cent of the electorate. The constituency has a near-even distribution of voters, with 54.04 per cent identified as urban and 49.96 per cent rural. Voter turnout has remained robust, hovering around 85 per cent. The lowest was 82.03 per cent in 2024, while the highest was 85.73 per cent in 2016.
With or without Mukul Roy, the BJP is well placed to retain Krishnanagar Uttar in the 2026 Assembly elections, given its strong leads in the past three contests and Trinamool’s reluctance to trigger a bypoll. The battle promises to be a direct contest between the BJP and Trinamool Congress, with the BJP holding the edge. The Left Front-Congress alliance may add some colour to the campaign, but they have failed to cross even six per cent of the vote share in the last three elections.
(Ajay Jha)
