Kolkata: Three women candidates from the major political parties in the state will lock horns with each other in Behala (East), which is slated to go to polls on Saturday during the 4th phase of elections along with 43 other Assembly constituencies. Trinamool Congress (TMC) has fielded Ratna Chatterjee, the estranged wife of former Mayor Sovan Chatterjee from the seat. BJP has relied on star power by fielding Tollywood actor Paayel Sarkar from the same seat. CPI (M) fielded Samita Har Chowdhury from the seat. Once a Left bastion, Behala (East) turned a TMC-stronghold as Sovan Chatterjee was elected on TMCs ticket for the first time in the constituency in 2011 by defeating CPI(M)s Kum Kum Chakraborty against the margin of over 48000 votes. Chattejee continued his winning streak in 2016 when he beat Independent candidate Ambikesh Mahapatra by a margin of over 24000 votes. Ratna, however, believes that Sovans exit from the TMC will not be a damaging factor in the upcoming elections. "He has not been beside the people of Behala for the last three years. I have tried my best to reach out to the people of this constituency in times of need. I will naturally have an edge in this area as I am a local resident and a known-face here," said Ratna. She laid emphasis on door-to-door campaigning and promised people that the pending or stalled works would be done on priority basis if she would be elected. Ratna had played a significant role after a major part of Paranasree area in Behala was under the ordeal of power cut with electricity wires snapping at different places when severe cyclonic storm Amphan hit the state on May 20 last year. She stood by the local residents and took it up with the state administration to solve the residents problem. BJPs Paayel Sarkar has also tried her best to reach out to the voters and instill confidence in them that she will stand by them if elected to power. However, only on May 2 the picture would turn clear whether the constituency—which has a record of electing known-faces from the constituency—would embrace a celebrity candidate or not. Paayel is a resident of Belgharia. "People of the constituency have elicited good responses during my campaign. They have informed me of their problems related to water logging and sewerage. The vote will be different this time," CPI(M)s nominee, Har Chowdhury said.

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