After Messi Fiasco, Arup Biswas Is Back Seeking 05th Term From Tollygunge Constituency.

Kolkata; April 2026: In Kolkata, the Tollygunge Assembly constituency, has always been an unchallenged political fortress for the past two decades for the reigning All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) party, and Aroop Biswas, one of the most trusted lieutenants of CM Mamata Banerjee.

As the oppositions anticipates that the SIR electoral rolls could helm the ship towards opposition, Tollygunge Assembly constituency is heading into the polls amid its sharpest electoral contest in years, as expected to observe a triangular contest between four-time MLA and minister Aroop Biswas of the TMC, BJP’s candidate actress Papiya Adhikari, and CPI(M) candidate Partha Pratim Biswas.

Aroop Biswas is an Indian politician who has served as minister for Power and Housing in the Government of West Bengal. He has been elected from Tollygunge in the 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections. His trajectory in the constituency began in 2006, when he defeated Pankaj Banerjee, a prominent veteran leader, in what was widely seen as a major turn around. He has held it ever since.

In December 2025, Aroop Biswas resigned from his post as Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs following criticism over alleged mismanagement of an event featuring Argentinian Lionel Messi at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. The event witnessed logistical failures and crowd management issues, leading to public and political backlash.

In his resignation letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Biswas stated that his decision was aimed at ensuring an “unbiased investigation” into the matter. Whether Biswas’s commanding position survives a campaign environment defined by voter roll deletions, the Messi controversy will be among the more closely watched verdicts

In the 2016 West Bengal Assembly Elections, Biswas received 90,603 votes to defeat CPI(M)’s Madhuja Sen Roy, who received 80,707, a margin of under 10,000 votes that showed the Left was still capable of mounting a fight here. The 2021 result was far more emphatic. Biswas received 1,01,440 votes to defeat BJP candidate Babul Supriyo, who received 51,360 votes. However, the period between 2021 and 2026 has eroded some of that stature. West Bengal votes in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting of votes on May 04th.

Team Maverick.