He later switched to the TMC and unsuccessfully contested from the Raiganj Lok Sabha seat on its ticket.
Before the Lok Sabha polls, he had resigned as the BJP MLA, resulting in the bypoll, in which the TMC again made him its candidate.
Like Kalyani, he too only resigned to contest the Lok Sabha polls, unsuccessfully, on the TMC ticket.
“The people had rejected the BJP in the last Lok Sabha polls.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the TMC had got 22 seats as compared to the BJP’s 18.
Maintaining its momentum from its triumph in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) swept all four Assembly bypolls in the state Saturday, wresting three seats from the BJP.
The BJP, which saw its Lok Sabha poll tally decline in the state, failed to make a turnaround, as all its candidates lost the bypolls, coming distant second, while the Left-Congress alliance candidates lost their deposits in three of the four seats.
In Kolkata’s Maniktala, the TMC’s Supti Pande won the by-election with a margin of 62,312 votes against the BJP’s Kalyan Chaubey. Pande not only retained the seat that her late husband Sadhan Pande had won thrice (in 2011, 2016 and 2021), but also increased the victory margin. Sadhan Pande, the deceased state minister, had won in 2021 by a margin of over 20,000 votes.
Advertisement
In North Dinajpur’s Raiganj, the TMC’s Krishna Kalyani won by 50,077 votes. This is the first time the TMC has won this seat. In the 2021 Assembly polls, Krishna Kalyani had won this seat, but on a BJP ticket. He later switched to the TMC and unsuccessfully contested from the Raiganj Lok Sabha seat on its ticket. Before the Lok Sabha polls, he had resigned as the BJP MLA, resulting in the bypoll, in which the TMC again made him its candidate. While Kalyani got 86,479 votes, the BJP’s Manas Kumar Ghosh polled 36,402 votes.
TMC candidates Supti Pande and Mukut Mani Adhikari. (PTI) TMC candidates Supti Pande and Mukut Mani Adhikari. (PTI)
In Nadia’s Ranaghat-Dakshin seat, the TMC’s Mukut Mani Adhikari won with a margin of 39,048 votes. In 2021, Adhikari, then with the BJP, had won this seat. Like Kalyani, he too had joined the TMC after the Assembly polls, without resigning as an MLA. Like Kalyani, he too only resigned to contest the Lok Sabha polls, unsuccessfully, on the TMC ticket. He was again made a TMC candidate in the bypoll, in which he garnered 1,13,533 votes as compared to the BJP’s Manoj Kumar Biswas, who got 74,485 votes.
In the Bagdah constituency in North 24 Parganas district, the TMC’s Madhuparna Thakur won by 33,455 votes. While Thakur bagged 1,07,706 votes, the BJP’s Binay Kumar Biswas got 74,251 votes. The bypoll was necessitated following the resignation of BJP MLA Biswajit Das.
The Bagdah bypoll outcome has also come as a boost for the TMC as it has wrested the seat from the BJP, which had won it in 2021. The TMC had won it in 2011 and 2016. The victory also assumes significance as the seat falls in the area dominated by the Matua community, a large section of which backed the BJP in the last two Lok Sabha polls.
Advertisement
The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC described the bypoll results as a “massive success” for the party, and said the people of Bengal have once again rejected the BJP. “The people had rejected the BJP in the last Lok Sabha polls. The same result has been repeated in the bypolls. The allegation that bypolls were not free and fair are just excuses by the BJP to hide its own failures and shortcomings. The BJP has lost the election and people’s trust. It is high time they accepted the fact and moved on,” said TMC leader Kunal Ghosh.
The bypoll results come over a month after the TMC’s impressive performance in the Lok Sabha polls, in which it bagged 29 seats out of 42 as against the BJP’s 12 seats. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the TMC had got 22 seats as compared to the BJP’s 18.
The BJP said it would reflect over the results. “We will introspect over our performance to know why the people didn’t vote in favour of our candidates. However, the TMC did not allow free and fair elections to take place. There were reports of a lot of electoral malpractices,” said state BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.
About 63% polling was recorded in the bypolls held on Wednesday. While the TMC said it was peaceful, the BJP alleged the ruling party workers had indulged in electoral malpractices like rigging and false voting to win the by- elections.
