In West Bengal’s Malda consistuency, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Gopal Chandra Saha defeated Trinamool Congress’ Lipika Barman Ghosh by 50,128 votes. Saha emerged victorious with 1,23,656 votes, while Ghosh trailed behind with only 73528 votes.The 2026 Malda (SC) constituency will feature TMC’s Lipika Barman Ghosh against BJP’s sitting MLA Gopal Chandra Saha and Congress’s Bhupendra Nath Haldar (Arjun).Malda (SC) is a Scheduled Caste-reserved constituency covering Old Malda Municipality and several gram panchayats of English Bazar and Habibpur community development blocks. It falls under the Maldaha Uttar Lok Sabha constituency. The seat has historically been a Congress bastion, with Bhupendra Nath Halder winning the seat consecutively in 2011 and 2016.In 2016, Halder defeated TMC’s Dulal Sarkar comfortably, continuing Congress’s strong grip on the SC electorate of the Old Malda area. However, 2021 brought a sharp BJP surge: Gopal Chandra Saha of BJP defeated the TMC candidate, with Halder’s vote share collapsing significantly. The seat saw a dramatic three-way split, and BJP emerged victorious in what was previously considered safe Congress territory. For 2026, Congress has once again fielded Halder, seeking to reclaim the seat, while TMC fields Lipika Barman Ghosh to try to consolidate TMC’s anti-BJP vote. The outcome may hinge on whether the opposition vote remains split.
