West Bengal bypoll results: BJP cries foul after TMC bags all four seats
Times of India | 14 July 2024
BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar alleged that TMC conducted fraudulent activities in the recent West Bengal Assembly bypolls. KOLKATA: BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar alleged that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) conducted fraudulent activities in the recent West Bengal Assembly bypolls, where the TMC emerged victorious in all four contested seats.
Majumdar claimed that in some booths, BJP received as few as "three to four votes", indicating fraud. Both parties have made strong statements concerning the results, with the TMC reclaiming three seats previously held by the BJP and retaining one of their own.
Majumdar expressed his concerns about the election process, stating, "The way the results have come, BJP has got three votes in some booths, and four votes in some booths, this is fraud in the name of votes.We have complained to the Election Commission earlier also but there was no hearing."
The bypoll results were declared on Saturday, and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took the opportunity to thank the electorate for their support. Banerjee emphasized that the TMC had managed to win back three seats previously held by the BJP, both in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha, in addition to retaining their own seat.
"Among the four seats, three were held by the BJP, both in the Lok Sabha and in the Vidhan Sabha. We have won all three and held on to our seat as well. That means four out of four. I express my gratitude to our people for this victory," Banerjee told reporters in Kolkata.
Expressing gratitude for the victory, Banerjee dedicated the wins to the people's support despite what she termed as conspiracies from the BJP and other agencies.
"We are dedicating our victory in the Lok Sabha polls and Vidhan Sabha polls to July 21...Despite all conspiracy, on one hand the BJP and on the other hand the agencies, people have voted for us," she added.
Discussing the specific win in the Raiganj assembly bypoll, Banerjee acknowledged the efforts it took to reclaim the seat. "BJP and Congress made us lose (from Raiganj) by using money in polls. Then I asked Krishna Kalyani to contest the polls because he was the MLA from the region. He accepted the challenge and we are grateful to people for voting him to power," she said.
The Chief Minister also commended the performance of their youngest candidate, Madhuparna Thakur, in Bagdah assembly bypolls.
"In Bagdah as well, Biswajit (Das) lost the polls. But he is a good, strong leader. He said that he will contest in future but he is not willing to contest this seat now. So we fielded our youngest candidate, Mamatabala Thakur's daughter Madhuparna Thakur. Madhuparna has given a tough fight. People over there supported us and she has won," Trinamool supremo added.
The Trinamool Congress achieved several milestones in Saturday's bypoll victory, despite the tendency of such results to favor the ruling party.
In Maniktala, Supti Pandey, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's unexpected choice, surpassed her late husband's winning margins by securing 62,312 more votes than her closest competitor, BJP's Kalyan Chaubey.
Madhuparna Thakur, Trinamool's candidate in Bagdah, became the youngest legislator in Bengal at just 25 years and one month, winning by a margin of 33,455 votes.
Trinamool also secured the Raiganj assembly seat for the first time, with candidate Krishna Kalyani winning by an impressive margin of 50,077 votes.
In Ranaghat South, Mukut Mani Adhikari emerged victorious with a comfortable lead of 39,048 votes, marking Trinamool's first win in the seat in 13 years.
Both Kalyani and Adhikari had previously won the Raiganj and Ranghat South assembly seats in 2021 as BJP candidates before joining Trinamool. They also contested the recent Lok Sabha polls as Trinamool candidates from Raiganj and Ranaghat LS seats, respectively, but lost to BJP.