While the Bhagawangola seat fell vacant after the death of Trinamool Congress MLA Idris Ali on February 16, former TMC leader Tapas Roy’s resignation necessitated the bypoll to the Baranagar seat. Roy joined the BJP and the saffron party fielded him from the Kolkata-Uttar Lok Sabha constituency.

Both Roy and Ghosh were once Congress leaders and had jumped over to the TMC at different times. Ghosh joined the BJP before Roy in 2021 and was a councillor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).

However, before Roy joined the BJP, Ghosh was the main contender of the saffron party from the Kolkata-Uttar seat. After securing a ticket from Baranagar, Ghosh said, “I always practiced politics under Tapas da. He is my political mentor. I will fight from Baranagar under his direction.”

Heaping praises on Roy, he said, “Some TMC leaders tried to tarnish his image. But they have failed because no opposition leader in this state believes that Tapas Roy is corrupt. As a result, the only honest leader of the TMC has joined us (BJP).”

He added, “I am confident to win from Baranagar. This time, the TMC’s vote loot will not work. The central forces are warming up and are getting ready with their lathis (batons).”

From 1951 to 1971, during the erstwhile CPI(M) regime, former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu was an MLA of Baranagar. Since 1977, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), an ally in the Left Front bloc, had been winning the seat until Roy became an MLA in 2011 and went on to be reelected three times. In the 2021 Assembly election, the TMC got 53.42 percent of the total vote share. On the other hand, the BJP got 31.49 percent of the total vote share.