Cooch Behar

Cooch Behar (/ˌkuːtʃ bᵻˈhɑːr/; Bengali: কোচবিহার, Kochbihar ^?[kotʃbihaɾ]) is the district headquarters of the Cooch Behar District in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at 26°22′N 89°29′E / 26.367°N 89.483°E / 26.367; 89.483. Cooch Behar is the only planned town in North Bengal region with remnants of royal heritage. One of the main tourist destinations in West Bengal, it is the location of the Cooch Behar Palace and Madan Mohan Temple and has been declared a heritage town. It is the maternal home of Maharani Gayatri Devi.

During the British Raj, Cooch Behar was the seat of the princely state of Koch Bihar, ruled by the Koch dynasty. After 20 August 1949, Cooch Behar District was transformed from a princely state to its present status, with the town of Cooch Behar as its headquarters.

Etymology

The name Cooch Behar is derived from the name of the Koch or Rajbongshi tribes indigenous to this region for many centuries. The word behar is derived from Sanskrit: विहार vihara.

Cooch Behar (disambiguation)

Cooch Behar is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal and headquarters of Cooch Behar District.

Cooch Behar may also refe4r to:

Cooch Behar (Lok Sabha constituency)

Cooch Behar (Lok Sabha constituency) is one of the 543 parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centres on Cooch Behar in West Bengal. All the seven assembly segments of No. 1 Cooch Behar (Lok Sabha constituency) are in Cooch Behar district. The seat is reserved for scheduled castes.

Assembly segments

As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies in the West Bengal, parliamentary constituency no. 1 Coochbehar, reserved for Scheduled castes (SC), is composed of the following segments from 2009:

The area under the Mathabhanga subdivision of the Cooch Behar district will constitute the assembly constituencies of Mathabhanga and Sitalkuchi, whereas the area under the Dinhata subdivision will form the constituencies of Dinahata and Sitai. The area under Cooch Behar Sadar subdivision will form Cooch Behar Uttar, Cooch Behar Dakshin and Natabari constituencies, though Natabari will contain gram panchayats from Tufanganj subdivision also.

Sealdah railway station

Sealdah railway station is one of the major railway stations serving Kolkata in India, the others being Howrah Station, Shalimar Station, Santragachi Junction and Kolkata Railway Station. Sealdah is one of the busiest railway stations in India and an important suburban rail terminal. After completion, Kolkata Metro Line 2 will pass through Sealdah.

History

Sealdah Railway station was started in 1869. Before 1978, there was a tram terminus at Sealdah station. Trams departed from here towards Rajabazar, Howrah Station, High Court, Dalhousie Square, Park Circus and Dharmatala. The first horse tram service of Kolkata was also started from Sealdah to Armenian Ghat, following the currently route 13, 14 & 16 between Lebutala & Dalhousie Square. The Sealdah-Lebutala & Dalhousie Square-Armenian Ghat (later extended to High Court) stretch is now closed. That terminus was demolished in 1978 also with the Sealdah-Lebutala tram track stretched through Boubazar Street for construction of the Sealdah flyover. The flyover is not high enough to pass tramway tracks under it. However, after its construction, tram tracks were relaid on the flyover. Now tram services between Rajabazar-Esplanade, Parkcircus-Burrabazar and other services pass through Sealdah. Currently, a car parking exists in place of the old tram terminus.

Sealdah (Vidhan Sabha constituency)

Sealdah (Vidhan Sabha constituency) was an assembly constituency in Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal.

As a consequence of the orders of the Delimitation Commission, Sealdah (Vidhan Sabha constituency) ceases to exist from 2011.

It was part of Calcutta North East (Lok Sabha constituency).

Results

2009 Bye-election

A bye-election was held on 18 August 2009 following the resignation of the sitting MLA, Somen Mitra who was elected as MP In Parliament from Diamond Harbour (Lok Sabha constituency).

2006

In the 2006 elections, Somendra Nath Mitra of INC defeated his nearest rival Prabir Deb of CPI

.# Swing calculated on Trinamool Congress+BJP vote percentages taken together in 2006.

1977-2009

In the 2009 by-election, necessitated by the election of sitting MLA, Somendra Nath Mitra, to the Parliament from the Diamond Harbour (Lok Sabha constituency), Shikha Mitra of Trinamool Congress won the Sealdah assembly seat. In the 2006, 2001, 1996, 1991, 1987 and 1982 state assembly elections Somendra Nath Mitra of Congress won the 156 Sealdah assembly seat defeating his nearest rivals Prabir Deb of CPI in 2006, Chanchal Ghosh of CPI in 2001, Arun Prakash Chatterjee of CPI in 1996, Ila Mitra of CPI in 1991, Nanda Gopal Bhattacharjee of CPI in 1987 and 1982. Binoy Banerjee of Janata Party had won the seat in 1977 defeating Amar Prasad Chakraborty of Forward Bloc.