Kolkata, March 22: A retired soldier from the Tripura State Rifles (TSR), Tarak Saha, has announced his entry into the electoral fray in West Bengal. He is contesting from the reserved Scheduled Caste seat of Swarupnagar, a stronghold of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Tarak Saha, who served as a Rifleman (General Duty) in the TSR, took voluntary retirement in 2019. He is now the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the Swarupnagar Assembly seat in North 24 Parganas district.
The contest has become particularly interesting with a three-way battle involving Saha, CPI(M) candidate Bishwajit Mandal, and TMC’s Beena Mandal. In the previous election held in 2021, Beena Mandal of the TMC won the seat by defeating BJP’s Brindaban Sarkar by a margin of 34,772 votes.
In a media interaction, Tarak Saha expressed confidence in his campaign, stating, “The party has entrusted me with the significant responsibility of developing Swarupnagar. I will strive to live up to this trust. I am 200 percent confident of my victory. I will win and bring freedom to Swarupnagar.”
He criticized the TMC’s 15-year rule, claiming that the region has seen little development and remains underdeveloped. Saha noted, “Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a bridge. Swarupnagar is an agricultural area, and improving railway connectivity will help farmers get better prices for their produce. Union Minister Shantanu Thakur will certainly assist in this direction.”
According to a senior officer from TSR, Tarak Saha joined the 6th Battalion of TSR as a Rifleman (General Duty) in 1998. After completing his training, he was deployed in the 2nd Battalion located in Radha Kishore Nagar, West Tripura, where he served until July 2019.
Voting for the Swarupnagar (SC) seat will take place in the second phase on April 29, with the counting of votes scheduled for May 4.