West Bengal's second phase of Assembly elections on Wednesday, 30 April 2025, has been overshadowed by two of the state's most politically charged episodes — the rape and murder of a 32-year-old intern at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in August 2024, and the alleged sexual exploitation and repression of women in Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas. Opposition parties have made law and order under the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) government their central campaign plank, framing the vote as a referendum on 15 years of TMC rule.

Key Constituencies in Focus

All 11 Assembly constituencies in Kolkata go to the polls on Wednesday, including Kashipur Belgachhia — the seat where RG Kar Hospital is located. The Sandeshkhali constituency in North 24 Parganas also votes in this phase. Results for all seats will be declared on 4 May 2025.

The first phase of polling was held on 23 April, covering 152 of the state's 294 constituencies. The remaining seats go to the ballot on Wednesday.

The Sandeshkhali Episode

The Sandeshkhali controversy erupted in January 2024, when an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team was attacked while probing a ration-scam link to TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan. Several officers were injured, files and phones were damaged, and Shahjahan went underground. He was arrested in late February 2024. Subsequent reports alleged widespread sexual exploitation and misconduct by local politicians and associates of Shahjahan, triggering mass protests by women in the area and intense national media scrutiny.

Opposition parties demanded the probe be transferred outside the state, accusing the state government of shielding those implicated. Central agencies later took over aspects of the investigation, and several individuals were arrested in connection with the attack on ED personnel.

Electorally, the episode left a visible mark. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the TMC candidate won the Basirhat Parliamentary constituency, but in the Sandeshkhali Assembly segment specifically, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee secured approximately 47.64% of the vote, trailing the TMC candidate by only about 8,400 votes — a significantly tighter margin than in the other six segments of the Basirhat constituency.

Historically, TMC wrested Sandeshkhali from the Left in 2016 and retained it in 2021 by a margin of nearly 39,700 votes.

The RG Kar Case and Its Electoral Dimension

The rape and murder of the 32-year-old intern at RG Kar Medical College in August 2024 sparked nationwide protests and demands for institutional accountability and doctor safety. The Calcutta High Court transferred the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) amid sustained public pressure.

In a development that has drawn significant attention, the mother of the RG Kar victim has entered the electoral fray as a BJP candidate from the Panihati Assembly constituency. The BJP has highlighted her nomination as a symbol of its commitment to justice and women's safety, though the move has also attracted criticism over the perceived politicisation of a grieving family's tragedy.

Kashipur Belgachhia, where the hospital is located, has been a TMC stronghold for decades — even during the Left Front's rule. In the 2021 Assembly election, the TMC nominee defeated the nearest BJP contender by over 35,000 votes.

What the Vote Could Signal

Wednesday's polling will test whether the RG Kar outrage and the Sandeshkhali controversy have meaningfully shifted ground-level sentiment against the TMC, or whether the party's organisational muscle and incumbency advantages hold. The verdicts for Panihati, Kashipur Belgachhia, and Sandeshkhali — all to be counted on 4 May — will be watched as bellwethers for how Bengal's electorate has weighed justice, safety, and governance against the ruling party's track record.