Pursurah started as a stronghold of the Congress party before the CPI(M) made it its bastion. The Trinamool Congress then held the seat for a decade, and the BJP scored its maiden victory in the last Assembly elections.
Established in 1967, Pursurah has participated in 14 Assembly elections so far. The CPI(M) has won this seat six times, including a streak of five consecutive wins between 1987 and 2006, and the Congress party won this seat on five occasions, including the first four wins between 1967 and 1972. The Trinamool Congress has held this seat twice and the BJP once.
After suffering two crushing defeats at the hands of the CPI(M) by huge margins in 2001 and 2006, the Trinamool Congress tasted its maiden victory in 2011 when it nominated Parvez Rahman once again. He proved lucky in the third attempt by defeating the sitting CPI(M) MLA Saumenbdra Nath Bera with a margin of 31,690 votes. In 2016, M Nuruzzaman won the seat for the Trinamool Congress as he beat Pratim Singha Roy of the Congress party by 29,127 votes. The BJP, which was languishing at the distant third by polling 4.03 per cent votes in 2011 and 8.88 per cent votes in 2016, came from behind to win the seat in 2021 with Biman Ghosh as its candidate. Trinamool CongressтАЩs ploy of changing its winning candidates to beat the anti-incumbency failed, as Ghosh prevailed over TrinamoolтАЩs Dilip Yadav by 28,178 votes. The BJPтАЩs vote share surged by 40.86 per cent from the 2016 election, as the Trinamool CongressтАЩs vote share declined by 10.24 per cent and the Congress partyтАЩs vote share came down by 33.45 per cent.
A similar trend of the CPI(M) holding the fort initially, the Trinamool replacing it from the top, and then the BJP emerging to dominate is also visible during Lok Sabha elections in the Pursurah Assembly segment. In 2009, the CPI(M) led the Congress party by 7,066 votes, and the Trinamool Congress led CPI(M) by 51,566 votes in 2014. The BJP dominance began in 2019 as it established a lead of 25,842 votes over the Trinamool Congress, which declined marginally to 22,892 votes over Trinamool in 2024.
Pursurah Assembly constituency had 255,926 voters on the draft electoral roll following the 2025 SIR undertaken in the state, due to the deletion of 12,667 voters from the 2024 roll when the number of registered voters stood at 268,593. Previously, it was 259,998 in 2021, 251,632 in 2019, 238,626 in 2016 and 214,053 in 2011. It witnessed the maximum addition of 24,573 voters in 2016, coinciding with the Trinamool Congress coming to power in the state in 2011. Scheduled Castes are the most dominant bloc with 29.15 per cent of voters, while Muslims account for 17.20 per cent of the electorate. It is a purely rural seat with no urban voters on its rolls. The voter turnout has been remarkably high here, with the highest turnout of 89.53 per cent in 2011 and the lowest at 83.18 per cent in 2024. In between, it stood at 86.36 per cent in 2016, 89.98 per cent in 2019, and 85.94 per cent in 2021.
Pursurah lies in the flat alluvial plains of Hooghly district in the lower Ganges delta, with low-lying terrain typical of rural West Bengal and prone to seasonal flooding from heavy monsoons. The area features fertile soils from river deposits and is criss-crossed by minor rivers and canals for irrigation. Key waterways in the region include the Damodar and Rupnarayan rivers flowing nearby, influencing drainage and agriculture through channels and natural streams.
The economy depends almost entirely on agriculture with paddy, potato, jute, vegetables and oilseeds as main crops. Some pisciculture and rural trade supplement livelihoods. Infrastructure remains rural with electricity, drinking water and basic markets available, while road connectivity relies on state highways and district roads. Rail access is through nearby stations on the Howrah-Bardhaman or Arambagh lines, with Kamarpukur or Arambagh stations providing links to Howrah and Kolkata.
Nearby towns include Arambagh, the subdivision headquarters, at about 20 to 25 km, Chinsurah, the district headquarters, at 60 to 70 km, Tarakeswar at 30 to 35 km, Khanakul at 15 to 20 km, Goghat at 25 km, and Kolkata, the state capital, at 80 to 100 km via NH-19 or other routes. Other towns in the Hooghly district include Serampore around 70 km east, and Haripal, farther north, while adjoining districts feature places in Purba Bardhaman like Bardhaman town, around 80 km west.
The deletion of 12,667 dead, fake, duplicate, migrated and illegal voters may have a deep impact on the 2026 Assembly elections if the final roll remains largely unchanged. It might further consolidate the BJP, which won the last 2021 Assembly elections, preceded and succeeded by leading in the Lok Sabha polls, and make the Trinamool CongressтАЩs task of snatching the seat from the BJP difficult. The BJP can sniff another victory in Pursurah constituency unless the Trinamool causes a big surprise in Pursurah.
(Ajay Jha)
