The widely accepted view is that the name originated from the abundance of rai sorshe (a special type of mustard) crops at this place from time immemorial.

[6] Many people think that the word "Raiganj" came from "Rai" meaning "Radha", the consort of Krishna.

In this connection, "Kaliaganj", nearest city to Raiganj, comes from "Kalia" meaning "Krishna", the central character of Mahabharata.

Raiganj is situated at the banks of Kulik river which helped the town to become an important place for water connectivity.

In course of time, the navigability of Kulik river decreased and business through the waterway was stopped in the first half of the 1970s, especially after the dam was erected to prevent floods.

The port area slowly lost its significance and, at present, it is the most backward locality of Raiganj.

The present growing tendency and trend of urbanisation in the area adjacent to this town are also remarkable.

[13] As per provisional reports of Census India, the population of Raiganj in 2011 was 183,612, of whom male and female were 96,388 and 87,224 respectively.

[15] Rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, e-rickshaws and city autos are the most widely available public transport in Raiganj.

The roadway connectivity suffers due to the traffic jam caused at Dalkhola on a regular basis.

[17] Raiganj is connected by buses to a few major cities through NBSTC and private bus services.

Buses are available all day long to Balurghat, Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Coochbehar, Malda, Kolkata, Maharaja Hat and a few other important cities.

[citation needed] The Radhikapur Howrah Kulik Express is also available in morning from Raiganj Railway station inaugurated by MP Debasree Chaudhuri.

IndiGo and SpiceJet are the major carriers that connect the area to Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangkok, Paro, Chandigarh and Balurghat airport.

Local birds like dove, bulbul, sparrow, kingfisher, woodpecker, owl, duck and cuckoo, can also be seen in large numbers.

The sanctuary has an artificial network of man made canals which is connected to the River Kulik.

This place has been recently developed with the blessings of Acharya ratna Deshbhushanji Maharaj and Ganini Pramukh Aryika Gyanmati Mataji.

There is a famous shvetambar temple dedicated to Ajitnatha with a copper-colored idol of 30 cm as its Moolnayak.

[24] Raiganj's schools usually use English and Bengali as their medium of instruction, although the use of Hindi is also stressed.

[citation needed] There are a total of 400 existing beds for patients in different wards of Raiganj district hospital.

[citation needed] Raiganj remains an important trading centre, running daily business transaction of at least 60 thousand on average, next only to Siliguri.

Raiganj is the sole producer of a special quality aromatic basmati rice called Tulaipanji.

Currently, the All India Trinamool Congress, which has elected most councillors, controls the municipal board.

Sandip Biswas of the All India Trinamool Congress is the current chairperson of the ongoing board of administrators and Arindam Sarkar of the All India Trinamool Congress is the current vice-chairperson of the ongoing board of administrators.

The administrative buildings are located at Karnajora, a gram panchayat area five kilometres from Raiganj town.

[28][29] On 23 March 2008, the Union I&B and Parliamentary affairs minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi inaugurated the newly constructed Raiganj Bhawan in Kolkata (Kasba area).