Habibpur Assembly Election 2026: Profile and Candidate List

Constituency Overview & Geography

Habibpur Assembly Constituency, numbered AC 43 in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, is a Scheduled Tribe (ST) reserved seat — one of only a handful in northern Bengal. It is the northernmost constituency in Malda district, and one of 12 assembly seats that collectively make up Malda.

Geographically, Habibpur is a deeply rural constituency, sitting in the foothills and plains adjoining the Rajmahal range. The area borders Jharkhand, giving it a distinct tribal character that sets it apart from the rest of Malda's predominantly Bengali Muslim demography. The constituency covers the Habibpur Community Development Block and its surrounding panchayat areas. Forests, small rivers, and tribal hamlets define the landscape here — this is not the riverine mango-and-silk Malda of the district headquarters, but a quieter, more agrarian frontier.

Habibpur Assembly Constituency falls under the Maldaha Uttar Lok Sabha constituency.

Voter & Demographic Profile

As per the 2011 Census, the total population of Habibpur constituency is approximately 3,10,000, with the area being overwhelmingly rural. The constituency has a significant Scheduled Tribe population — predominantly Santali and other Adivasi communities — which shapes the political calculus here in a decisive way. ST communities typically vote cohesively, and both CPI(M) and later BJP have cultivated their trust through community-level mobilisation.

The literacy rate in Habibpur is below the district average, and development indicators — road connectivity, health facilities, access to formal education — remain among the weakest in Malda. This makes the constituency particularly sensitive to welfare-delivery politics and identity-based mobilisation.

Registered Voters (Approx): ~2,30,000 (2024 roll) Polling Stations: ~250

Full Election History (2001–2021)

Habibpur has been the most reliably Left-held seat in Malda for most of the post-1977 era. CPI(M) built a formidable organisational network among tribal communities, linking them to the Left's broader rural welfare programmes. Congress, despite its strength elsewhere in the district, never cracked Habibpur's Left wall consistently.

2001 & 2006 — Left Dominance CPI(M) retained the seat comfortably in both 2001 and 2006. The party's grip on Habibpur was anchored in trade union networks (tea garden workers and forest workers), panchayat control, and identity politics that positioned CPI(M) as the defender of tribal rights against encroachment.

2011 — Left Holds Despite TMC Wave Even as Mamata Banerjee's TMC swept Bengal and ended 34 years of Left rule, Habibpur held for the Left. The tribal electorate remained loyal to CPI(M), and TMC's organisational footprint here was minimal. It was one of the constituencies that showed Left's residual strength in tribal belts even in the 2011 wave year.

2016 — Left Retains, But Cracks Show CPI(M) again won in 2016, but with a reduced margin as BJP began making inroads in tribal constituencies across northern Bengal — part of a broader BJP strategy to build an Adivasi electoral base.

2021 — BJP's Joel Murmu Wins in Historic Upset The 2021 West Bengal election was transformative for Habibpur. BJP fielded Joel Murmu, a local tribal leader, and the result was decisive:

Winning margin: 19,517 votes. BJP had finally broken into Habibpur — ending CPI(M)'s near-total dominance of the seat since 1977. The key factor was BJP's success in framing itself as the champion of tribal identity and rights, particularly through its association with tribal icons nationally, and the broader Bengal BJP wave of 2021.

2026 Candidate Profiles

BJP Candidate: Joyel Murmu — Sitting MLA Seeks Re-election Joyel Murmu (name also written Joel Murmu) is the sitting MLA and BJP's 2026 candidate. Having won comprehensively in 2021, he heads into 2026 as the incumbent seeking to consolidate BJP's hold on tribal Habibpur. His challenge is anti-incumbency from unmet development expectations and TMC's aggressive push into tribal belts through welfare delivery.

TMC Candidate: Amal Kisku — A Fresh Tribal Face TMC has fielded Amal Kisku as its candidate for 2026 — a new face aimed at rebuilding tribal connect in the constituency. TMC's strategy is to use the leverage of state government welfare schemes (Lakshmi Bhandar, Krishak Bandhu, etc.) to win back tribal voters who switched to BJP in 2021.

Quick Reference Card — Habibpur AC 43