Rejinagar: Back in April, Humayun Kabir’s ‘Babri Masjid’ was the centrepiece of the political campaign in Rejinagar. Six months later, the conversation around the mosque has faded into the background, making way for development, riverine connectivity and jobs to occupy the discourse when the assembly goes to a bypoll on Tuesday.A predominantly Muslim constituency, Rejinagar was carved out of Beldanga and Bharatpur in 2011. Kabir was the segment’s first MLA, at the time on a Congress ticket. He later moved to Trinamool, shifted to BJP, moved back to Trinamool, before founding his own — Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP).Kabir won the 2026 assembly poll in Rejinagar riding on a wave of support due to his laying of a foundation stone for a Babri-style mosque and public sympathy over his suspension from Trinamool.Subsequently he gave up the seat and retained Nowda, where he also won — necessitating the bypoll, in which his son, Golam Nabi Azad is the AJUP candidate.Others in the contest are: Mamata Trinamool’s Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, Democratic Trinamool Congress’s Shafiuzzaman Seikh, Congress’s Abdullahil Kafi, and CPM’s Abu Syed.Ahead of the bypoll, development seems to have become the core focus. Three major infrastructure issues ail the constituency: riverine connectivity, absence of a higher educational institution and the undeveloped industrial park.People travelling between Rejinagar and Shaktipur continue to rely on wooden boats to commute within the region. There is no degree college in the constituency. And 183 acres of land on the NH-12, which was supposed to be turned into an industrial park, lies largely unused, except 40 bighas allocated to JCI, four entrepreneurs and WBSEDCL.CM Suvendu Adhikari has promised to turn Rejinagar into a model constituency. He has pledged to build two bridges across Bhagirathi river, set up a college, upgrade the block hospital and operationalise the industrial park.The constituency comprises 2,56,546 voters across 315 polling stations. Of these, 229 have been tagged critical booths. Thirty-four CAPF companies and 819 state police personnel have been deployed for the bypolls. A 100% webcasting across all booths would be conducted.
